The Story of Suzie: The Darkness Beneath
by Zero Slash One
Summary: The multiverse has been all but destroyed, hundreds of dimensions reduced to twenty-four. And at the heart of it all, everyone are equally clueless about what to do next, or even if an option for their next moves even exists. With new allies and old enemies thought long dead, the gangs will be hard-pressed to fend off them all, when the greatest threat is one of their own.
1. Before Crisis: Phase One

**Well, since I've got no better ideas for stories, I might as well continue the Suzie Pentalogy, and return to the Dark Ocean plotline, while we're at it. **

**Now, I should mention that if you've got no interest in somber, moody, disturbing stories, real Cosmic-Horror type stuff, you might wanna turn back immediately, since it's going to be _that_ kind of story.**

**No, but seriously; if you place any value on good taste and decency, leave now. You're not about to like what happens next.**

**Still, I've got all sort of ideas for this story, including a few that you'll never see coming. Like this one. **

**And since we never really got a look at Kurata's death, picking up where we left off seems fitting.**

* * *

_"This is how it ends... Not with me performing my great work, but an earth-quake..." _Kurata mused while the floor trembled beneath him. It would only be a few seconds now... The sounds of the building's foundation cracking and giving way resounding through his mind.

Then, as the earthquake had begun, it ceased. Yet, he seemed to have solid ground under his feet...

"_Odd..._" Kurata thought once more, his eyes still instinctively closed, despite that something told him that the danger had passed. The chill air surrounding him now was not quite as unpleasant as it ought to be, and its deafening silence almost comforting.

Apprehensively, he opened his eyes, seeing and quizzically observing his new-found, highly unusual surroundings through his misty spectacles.

He was at sea. At least, that was his initial assessment, but when he looked closer: he saw that the water, if it could be called such, was more reminiscent of oil.

Whether it _was_ water, oil or something else was yet to be determined. He noted that he stood on the substance without slipping or sinking, deeming it, overall, a rather convincing imitation of a solid substance. Shifting his foot ever so slightly, he noticed the liquid rippling outwards, ceasing its movement and returning to a deathly calm state a few seconds later.

He chuckled somewhat wryly at the odd properties of the liquid and came to a conclusion. Somehow, it could support his weight, but it was also fluid enough to ripple so easily. It seemed impossible, yet he knew that alternate realities had alternate physical laws and constants, so...

He paused at the thought of alternative realities, as only one came to mind. The Digital World. Was that where he was? The phenomena at hand was impossible in earth's universe, so it stood to reason that he wasn't home. But without a Digital Dive or a Space-Oscillation Device to access the inter-universal membrane... how could he conceivably left?

Suddenly against the possibility that he could have been warped by accident as the chill he felt before crept down his spine. The goosebumps on his skin, and the sensation in his heart seemed devoid of all warmth. Even the Digital World, and the monsters living there, couldn't inspire such feelings in a person.

That left the question of where exactly he was, smiling bemusedly in hindsight. The answer had been staring him in the face this whole time!

He was dead, and the was the afterlife. Where the souls of humans came to enter heaven or hell, or whatever that existed in the great beyond... The irony of the situation was almost unbearably humorous.

He'd never put much faith in religion, or any sort of deity. Certainly, he heard legends of Sovereigns and Celestial Digimon during the expedition a decade ago, but he'd put no more stock in those myths than he had any human religion.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the fog surrounding him. Though the noise echoed far too much through the area for him to pinpoint any specific direction. He heard them grow louder, as whoever or whatever approached him moved closer.

He screamed when he saw what was approaching him. Within the mist, he saw a hazy silhouette that was far too blurry to make out, but the skin color was unmistakable...

It was a shadowy hue, that stood out all too clearly amid the faint-white mists. He braced himself, heart racing and beads of sweat already forming on his forehead. He could not expect to fight digital creature and live, much less fight...

However, when he actually got a look at the being, he breathed a sigh of relief at seeing another human in the place.

Mistaking a human girl that actually looked about fifteen or sixteen, with soft brown hair falling to her shoulders for creature of the darkest nightmares seemed a little silly. Too bad hindsight often worked against him, like now. Making him look like a fool even when he was trying to protect himself.

To his surprise and mild awe, she wore a formal dress that seemed tailor-made only for the finest and most high-brow of occasions. It clung to her like a second layer of skin. He wasn't sure what to term the color of it, as obsidian barely seemed fitting.

However, all of that barely seemed relevant, as her stomach was visibly distended, the sleek fabric of the dress stretched out by the bump.

"Hello, professor Kurata," She smiled sweetly at the speechless man, folding her arms, resting them on her swollen stomach.

He didn't respond, utterly baffled about the situation. How could a disembodied soul be impregnated? It didn't seem possible to him, but then again, he was no expert in metaphysics...

Perhaps, he mused if he was only perceiving a metaphor of what was really happening, with her pregnant state being some bizarre, freudian analogy for him being reincarnated, and born again...

Yes, that had to be it, he decided. There was no question about it!

"Hello, miss," He answered tentatively, as his heart-rate slowed down to manageable levels. Though, even with that rationalization in mind, he still didn't feel comfortable around a pregnant sixteen-year old. He considered himself an open-minded man, but there "Pardon my bluntness, but who are you?"

To his mild confusion, she simply chuckled. As though he had made a joke, annoying him somewhat as he rather took offense to being laughed at.

"That depends entirely on your definition of a goddess, professor Kurata," She smirked at him, pointedly ignoring the shocked gasp the question elicited from him.

"A goddess?" Kurata spoke aloud instead of thinking, unable to contain his contempt towards this strange young woman any longer. She actually had the nerve and mental delusion to proclaim herself a divine being?

Admittedly, he lacked a practical degree familiarity with deities, what they looked like and what they could do, nor did he concern with the metaphysics of such, but he was certain that goddesses didn't look like _that_.

"Oh, really?" Her smirk widened, unnerving him slightly. She was clearly delusional, and he deemed it best with some distance between them. Taking a few hesitant steps back, or he tried to, only to find that the oily substance had somehow wrapped itself around his legs, reaching almost to his kneecaps.

Somehow, it had done so without him noticing it. How was that possible? Kurata didn't understand. It was a fluid, he should of felt it soaking through his shoes and pants... Just what was that substance?

"Professor Kurata, I control everything, everyone, in this dimension." The girl explained smugly. "How's that for the power of a god?"

"Admittedly, that is impressive," Kurata conceded, deciding not to struggle against his aquatic constraints, as doing so might serve to irritate the deluded teen with a god-complex. "However, power alone does not a god make, miss."

"True," She agreed. "Still, I've got worshippers too, thousands of them in fact, so I'll say I've got the bases covered."

He didn't answer, simply considering the notions that she had put forth. Though she had barely given a demonstration of the power she claimed to wield, she certainly believed herself omnipotent. Within this dimension at least...

And while he'd seen no sign of the 'worshippers' she claimed to have, he lacked evidence that disproved their existence and so reluctantly, he conceded the point regarding the matter.

Loath as he was to admit it, her rationale in proclaiming herself a god was sound. It was incredibly conceited and arrogant, but it was sound nonetheless.

"Anyway, professor Kurata, I didn't bring you here just to argue about my godhood." She continued, sounding to be a bit annoyed. "I brought you because I've got something to offer you."

The scientist arched an eyebrow. Just now, she had claimed omnipotence, and she had an offer for him? Years of playing the political scene, playing Hashima to get his own lab had taught him that offers were rarely made without hidden agendas, and he strongly suspected now, even in this strange dimension, to be no exception.

"What sort of offer?" He inquired cautiously, being well-aware of the implications of dealing with the devil. Though admittedly, he supposed that the devils rarely made the offers, nor did she look outwardly demonic.

"Nothing complicated." She assured him, giving a smile that, if it was intended to be soothing, failed utterly in its intended purpose. "I know quite a lot about you, professor. Enough to know that you view Digimon as things to be wiped out, for the safety of humanity."

Kurata wasn't sure which he found more worrying, her casual statement that she apparently knew him or the accusatory undertone in the statement. "What of it?"

"That's what I want you to do, professor," She chuckled softly. Kurata smirked back, as far, he was starting to like the offer presented to him. However, he remained somewhat wary, doubting that it was as simple as 'go forth and destroy'. "You, a hundred of my worshipers, and free reign on the Digital World. How does that sound?"

Kurata wasn't certain whether she was cocky or crazy. A mere hundred? Against the innumerable Digimon that survived his previous campaign? But on the other hand, it was a tempting offer...

"And what if I refuse?" He inquired off-handedly, wondering if she really expected him to buy that incredibly apparent ruse? It was blatantly obvious that despite her attestations of divinity, her power was considerably more limited than she let on.

After all, she'd said 'in this dimension', and nothing about outside. And if she could leave, why did she even need him to do this?

"Then, I put you back in the building I took you from, and ask somebody else," The teen answered casually, cocking her head. He sounded as though he believed himself to have any sort of leverage or bargaining chip.

To her mild confusion, a smirk formed briefly on his face, fading just as briefly. "And would there happen to be any conditions I'll have to fulfill?"

"Just one," She answered. "If you happen to meet someone called Ken Ichijouji, kill him immediately if possible."

He stifled a laugh. All that blasphemous boasting, and she had to rely on him to kill a human? Though, he didn't like the idea of killing a human, or of murder in general.

Still, he supposed that Ichijouji's death was justifiable for the greater good. A single human dead, along with countless Digimon, threats to humanity gone? There was really no question about what the morally right course of action was.

After a bit of thinking, he began to question his assumption that she, whoever or whatever she was, couldn't leave this dimension. If she actually lacked the ability, how had she brought him to this dimension, wherever it was?

She studied him with mild disinterest, hoping that he'll make up his mind soon.

"Before I agree to anything, I'll like to see these 'worshipers' of yours," He requested. She deemed it a reasonable request, and snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, the still waters turned almost stormy, and out of the ocean rose creatures, many creatures that Kurata had never seen the likes of, even among the diversity of forms within the Digital World.

They were barely humanoid, a race of beings that seemed made of a substance of equal parts smoke, equal parts liquid and equal parts bizarreness. Whoever had thought up such creatures, had to be not only insane, but also devoid of good taste. Kurata doubted, quite strongly, that natural genetic evolution could ever breed such madness in their given form.

The mists cleared to put the entirety of the strange army on display, as if it had been commanded to, and yielded. They were all of the height and build, abnormally tall, and abnormally thin. Reaching what he estimated to be six meters in height, at the least.

In truth, he didn't believe that these creatures could live up to their so-called 'god's' boasting, and the strange look that he received from one of them didn't exactly reassure him of the fact, either.

They were of an impressive size, certainly, but it would take much more than size to defeat a Digimon. And that was not counting the considerable number of Digimon who boasted greater sizes and powers.

Still, desperate times called for desperate measures, he knew, suspecting that their appearance might well belie their strength.

"I accept, miss," He gave a hearty chuckle. While these creatures likely couldn't end the reconfiguration-cycles of Digimon like his Gizumon could, he figured that subduing them would suffice as a temporary measure, until he could make a better world, for Keiko, and everyone else.

* * *

**Well, we're off to a good start.**

** Yes, I'm aware that Kurata's portrayed in a better light than in most other stories and Canon, but then, everyone likes to think themselves the hero of the story, him included, even if they aren't consciously aware of it.**


	2. Before Crisis: Phase Two

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds) **Indeed.**

* * *

Within the literally endless expanses of the Dark Ocean, an inhuman presence permeated the murky waters, undetectable by almost all, save for two.

One was a white-furred feline roaming a castle far, far away, deep beneath the waves. Somehow, the waters surrounding it did not enter, as though the laws of physics dictated such impossible. Another was a black-garbed human-like creature on the surface of the ocean.

In a different sort of universe, a smaller, temporary one, a Digimon called Lucemon, a Demon Lord that embodied the sin of pride, was defeated by the gathered defenders of various universes, and sentenced to an eternity of suffering, his life-force continually siphoned away, to help rebuild the worlds.

That was, if a lifespan of uncountable billions of years could be considered 'temporary', and if a size of uncountable billions of light-years could be considered to be 'smaller', he chuckled to himself.

However, before his defeat, he managed to cause the destruction of innumerable dimensions, and the deaths of over a centillion humans and Digimon.

Their war seemingly won, the Digidestined, their numbers already dwindled from Lucemon's rampage, parted ways. Some, like Davis, Ken, Yolei, Cody, their allies Willis and Rina, along with their respective Digimon-partners, went with the Digimon Tamers back to their world. Others, like Tai, Sora and TK, remained in the world of the Digital Accident Tactics Squad, joining the group, with the intent of rescuing Kari from the clutches of Dagomon.

Over the peaceful month since the Lucemon battle, a startling amount of changes had happened in both universes.

In the DATS universe, Tai, Sora and TK had gotten their own apartment, in the same apartment complex as Yoshino Fujieda.

As for the Damon family, they simply resumed their ordinary lives, since the Digimon attacks had seemingly ceased altogether. Marcus had found himself a sparring partner in BanchoLeomon, while Gumdramon resumed his casual explorations of the city while Kristy was in school.

Kristy eventually persuaded commander Sampson to let her do a Digital Dive with Gumdramon, to pay Suzie a visit. She managed this through reasoned discourse, sound arguments, and lastly, him tiring of her pestering.

Thomas, however, took a much-needed vacation, to rest off the mind-boggling events of Suzie's tenure with DATS, content in his knowledge that DATS was stronger than ever.

In the Tamers universe, the defenders were much less unified, the Tamers all but dissolved, not by any sort of adversary, but simply by age.

The older Tamers, Takato, Rika, Henry, Jeri, Kazu and Kenta, were all but retired and had departed for a college elsewhere in Tokyo, leaving the defense of Shinjuku to Suzie, Lopmon, Ai, Mako, Impmon and Hypnos, while Ryo and Monodramon had left for the Digital World.

Of course, they weren't alone. With nowhere else to go, Davis, Ken, Yolei, Cody, Willis and Rina, along with their partners were given impromptu housing at Hypnos, until either a place of residence or foster homes could be located for them.

He suspected that Yamaki had arranged that, to keep the knowledge of no reconfiguration-cycle existing for Digimon in that universe from the Digidestined, knowing from experience how they'll react.

As he expected, they did find out when Ai accidentally let them know. Of course, Cody was already aware of the detail, so there was really no need for secrecy on the matter, the Digimon mused.

With the knowledge revealed, Davis, Rina, Ken, Yolei and Cody decided to move in with Ryo in the Digital World, if and when they could find some reliable means to traverse dimensions, without Hypnos' assistance, as Yamaki had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't about to expend Hypnos resources and funding on interdimensional gallivanting.

It was a most fascinating state of affairs in those worlds, made parallel by the interaction between them, the currently fleshless Dagomon mused, one that he looked forward to overturning.

Fortunately, with the elder Tamers retired, there was only a Beelzemon and a Cherubimon to stand against them, the latter of whom was too weak to properly wield that power.

He knew well that the power of the elder Tamers, steadily growing as it had over the years since they fought the D-Reaper, could rival even a Demon Lord now, and showed no signs of slowing its growth. It was somewhat worrying, but then, it would make his inevitable victory all the sweeter.

Deciding to turn his attention elsewhere, his consciousness shifted its spatial location to the surface of the ocean, where his bride was finishing her offer to Kurata.

The scientist suddenly felt an inexplicable chill around him. He grimaced in discomfort, the temperature seemingly dropping about ten degrees, as though some kind of forceful wind had just swept through the area.

The teen smiled with contentment at her Lord's presence, a bit amused at the contradiction of him seeming to want to keep himself hidden, yet not bothering to conceal himself in any real way, other than physically.

He looked around briefly, but saw no-one, nothing. Just her, the hundred shadow-creatures, and the mists. He heard nothing from within the mists. He knew innately, through some natural instinct that he couldn't quite place, that _something _was hiding in the mists and waters around him. He began to question whether the girl was human.

Certainly, the abilities she'd displayed argued otherwise, he noted nervously.

"Before you go, professor, there's one last thing I'll have to do," She told him, snapping him out of his reverie. To his surprise, he noticed that her left hand was all of a sudden emitting a soft light, with a hue in-between lavender and pink.

Behind her, the army kneeled, knowing what their queen was about to do. Kurata eyed the display, utterly baffled. Without any explanation as to what she was doing, she turned around, away from Kurata.

She pondered briefly which Digimon-forms to give them. Kurata would need Digimon for the air, land and sea, so perhaps Imperialdramon, or Ornismon... She smirked, realizing abrubtly the perfect four Digimon for his purposes.

To Kurata's shock, the vast majority of the creatures that she'd either summoned or conjured began to lose what little similarity their forms had to the human body, as trails of whatever substance composed them flew out of their heads, while they gradually became thinner and thinner, some already looking as though they were emaciated.

What really nauseated him, though, was the utter lack of response. They were being bled dry, drained of what amounted to their blood, and they barely flinched. What sort of creatures were they, and what sort of cruel 'goddess' was she?!_  
_

He decided to attempt to subdue his revulsion at the sight, as he knew that squeamishness wasn't acceptable for what he had to do. Oblivious to his discomfort, she continued to shape Kurata's army.

The hard part wasn't creating the four, she mused, mentally directing the vast power of the orbs into the remaining four. She had the limitless power of the Dark Ocean to mold their bodies with, so that wasn't very hard.

Done with empowering the four, all that was left, was to grant them the shapes of Digimon. Her eyes gained a reddish tinge while the glow of her hand intensified.

Kurata froze, speechless and disgusted at the sight that followed. The bodies of the remaining four convulsed, while their arms and legs visibly struggled to, at the same time, lose and keep their shape.

He looked away, having absolutely no interest in that macabre display. A few seconds later, he registered strange noises, but did not look, not wanting to see whatever she'd transmuted the army into.

Hesitantly, he looked, his curiosity getting the better of him, and saw four highly unusual creatures.

One of the four was a large serpentine creature, with a body made of something that resembled azure plasma. A pair of metal chains wrapped around it, as though they were there to keep it intact.

It floated, suspended in the air above the other three, seemingly by the power of its own will and nothing more. It looked scrutinizingly down at him and the girl with four blood-red eyes.

In the middle of the three other beasts was a large tiger, with snow-white fur that held various purple stripes. Attached to the forelegs were purple metal-rimmed ankle-guards, and attached to the hindlegs were a pair of large metallic rings. From the back protruded a few jet-black spikes.

To the tiger's left was what Kurata considered a relatively normal-looking turtle, by Digimon standards, if one disregarded the second head, the red beady eyes and the massive tree growing from its back.

To the tiger's right was a bird-like creature, with predominantly red, orange and yellow plumage. The multiple wing-pairs had yellow tips and orange flame-like markings, while the remaining wings were the same sleek-red color.

Dagomon almost couldn't keep himself from snorting at the sight. Whyever would she recreate facsimiles of the Sovereign? It seemed a waste of subjects, but he figured that it'll be less than a century before they'll be replaced.

"Impressive assembly," Kurata complimented tentatively, trying to ignore the strange looks he received from the Digimon-like creatures. For a moment, he almost believed them to be sentient, silly as it was.

"Yeah," She responded, dismissively. "Baihumon, Zhuqiaomon, Azulongmon and Ebonwumon. The four Digimon Sovereign. Each of these four are much more powerful than that sleeping pseudo-Demon Lord you found in that temple."

He gasped at hearing that. Belphemon had been his trump card, his final solution to purge the Digimon from existence, and the demonic koala required incredible amounts of Digimon life-force to awaken. Was she really giving him full control of four superweapons like that?! It sounded too good to be true, so he knew that it likely was.

"And all I have to do is kill this 'Ken Ichijouji' on sight?" He turned to her, eyeing her questioningly with an eager glint in his eyes.

"That's one of two conditions," She answered disinterestedly, deciding to leave out what'll happen if he failed. "The other is that if you happen to see my brother, Tai, and his partner Agumon, leave them alone," She informed him sharply, her previously-casual tone gone completely. "Just walk away. I've got more of a use for him than you, Kurata. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," He assured her. At the least, with those two, 'Tai' and the other Agumon, off-limits, he still had plenty of work to do.

"Good," She smiled. "These portals will take you and the four into the Digital World."

"What port-" Kurata quizzically asked, but was cut off when he felt the solid fluid that he stood on give away, the portal that she had referred to having opened up underneath him, as it had underneath the fake Ebonwumon and Baihumon, who both fell in the same interdimensional void that Kurata had.

Within transit-space, Kurata was relieved to see the four Digimon follow behind him, hurtling through the void. Now, he knew that his great work could begin in earnest, Gizumon armies and Belphemon replaced by these formidable four.

To his shock and disgust, he registered for a splitsecond that he wasn't in the normal interdimensional transit-space, but some other void, with every color imaginable and more swirling furiously around him.

Suddenly, he emerged on some kind of mountain, with the entirety of the Digital World visible in the horizons.

At the Infinite Ice Ridge, Merukimon screamed, sensing the entrance, no, the violation of the Digital World, and the monstrous beings that followed in its wake. Under normal circumstances, he would've sensed the exact location of this enemy, or at least the general whereabouts. Now, he was at a loss as to pinpoint their origin, their power unlike anything he had ever felt, in both magnitude and nature.

If there was to be any hope of survival, he would need to rally his entire squad, and everyone left in the Digital World, in order to form an organized defense. Whoever or whatever this new adversary was, that it signaled the onset of war was undeniable.

...

...

...

_The Kernel, outside space and time_

Norn stood in the innermost sanctum of the area, sensing the hostile activity in timeline fifteen of universe two. ENIAC's orb shimmered, as did Homeostasis' collection of crystal, signaling that they sensed it as well.

"Counter-move suggestions?" Norn inquired, knowing that this was too dangerous to be allowed to proceed. Kurata was already a dangerously unstable individual, and with support from the Dark Ocean, the potential destruction... She preferred not to dwell on that.

More importantly, given that Kurata had been retrieved from the past of that universe, this incursion might well be the first strike of a time-war.

"I am not certain," ENIAC's light dimmed, as he pondered the question. After the cataclysm, it was extremely limited how many Tamers and Digidestined there was available to deploy.

The forty-nine surviving timelines of new-earth one would provide ample amounts of the Tamers, though the Tamers of timeline seventeen were as powerful as they possibly could be, leaving those variants the optimal choices.

He decided against that solution, as those humans would have no real reason to oppose Kurata, and for this sort of conflict, it needed to be personal.

That left the DATS of universe two, timeline three, the best possible choices to defeat Kurata. Though their uses of the Burst Mode were unusual ones, relying on it to strengthen the Rookie, Champion and Ultimate levels, rather than in conjunction with the Mega-levels, they would perhaps be the best suited to fight.

Sampson and Kudamon against the creature that resembled Ebonwumon... Spencer, BanchoLeomon and Millenniumon against the false Azulongmon... The VictoryGreymon, ZeedGarurumon and Rosemon Bio-Merges, pitted against the Baihumon-duplicate...

That left simply the 'Zhuqiaomon', to be dealt with by Tai, WarGreymon, Sora, Garudamon, TK and Seraphimon.

Though he doubted that the DATS could successfully fend off creatures with power that surpassed the Sovereign, he had no choice but to rely on them.

Perhaps, Merukimon's squadron, wielding the Digimentals and Spirits, could provide assistance, despite that none of those thirty-five could boast power on the Mega-Level.

"My initial suggestion would be to send the DATS and the three Digidestined," ENIAC finally answered. Norn nodded in assent, despite not quite feeling comfortable with that hastily-formed plan.

Homeostasis simply remained silent, the crystals rotating slowly. **"And what if they should fail?"**

ENIAC's orb shone briefly, pondering the question. The primordial computer hoped strongly that they wouldn't, but then, the Marcus, Thomas and Yoshi had undergone different trials than their main timeline counterparts, and had never faced King Drasil.

Though, the main timeline versions of them couldn't Bio-Merge, and hadn't undergone the training at Spiral Mountain, with Kristy and Suzie, he mused.

"In the event that they fail, Suzie, Ai and Mako of timeline seventeen will be called, along with the other Digidestined," ENIAC calmly answered his complimentary entity.

"**Agreed,"** Homeostasis answered. **"See to it."**

* * *

**Well, this escalated quickly.**

**1) I'm aware that ENIAC's more callous and battle-hardened now than in the Wonderswan-Series, but since there's so little left of the Multiverse, he has to be. Whether that approach will yield the desired results remains to be seen.**

**2) Yes, Takato/Rika/Henry/Jeri/Kazu/Kenta and their respective Digimon are effectively gone, written out of the story. If you wanted a story that focused on them, look elsewhere.**

**They might still drop in, but it'll be cameos at best. Emphasis on 'might'...**


	3. Kurata Attacks!

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds) **You're damn right.**

**...**

**Bloody hell... A few hours/days of work, planning every aspect of this story in advance, Digivolution-lines, Dark World-Layout, the exact number of Digimon in said Dark World (Area _and_ Ocean)...**

**Anyone care to bet that I'll screw myself over sooner or later?**

* * *

_DATS HQ, 16:18, June 17, 2006_

Within the building's command center, Sampson was leaning back in his chair, enjoying his tea, awaiting the next battle. There _would_ be a next battle, of that he was certain. Though he wanted to believe that their duties were complete after Lucemon's defeat a month ago, but he had come to find that experience and overt idealism rarely mixed.

Though, given the file that Thomas had compiled on these 'Demon Lords' from various sources, he realized that simply neutralizing Lucemon was a tremendous victory as it was.

Still, sooner or later, another battle for DATS to fight would come along. Had Kudamon been able to hear his partner's thought, the ferret would likely have chided the man for _literally_ inviting one such to occur.

At her computer, Miki blinked in confusion, as her computer suddenly froze momentarily, as did Megumi's and Sampson's. When the computers unfroze, a new program had executed, though none of them recognized the program.

Both the azure-white GUI and the icon of that program were unknown to Miki and Megumi, though Kudamon recognized it well; it was the same program that the Royal Knights used to communicate with each-other, the Sovereign, the Celestial Digimon and God.

On the screens, the humans saw an unfamiliar sphere that shimmered with soft white light, while Kudamon gave his lord a customary bow. Miki marveled at the realization that this was ENIAC. In truth, she had thought Thomas to be joking about that; after all, ENIAC was decommissioned decades ago, so it couldn't possibly be the same ENIAC.

"Whether you know my identity matters not," The sphere addressed everyone present, in a deeply indistinct voice. At once, it sounded male, female, calm and frantic, as much as it did not.

"I speak to commander Richard Sampson now, to urge him to gather everyone employed by DATS," The ancient computer continued, not giving anyone a chance to reply. "Even now, a new threat to both the Analog and Digital Worlds are preparing to devastate the Digital World, and may not want to settle for either dimension. I urge you to gather everyone you can, that both worlds might yet be saved."

Sampson frowned, as something seemed off about this espoused 'threat'. While ENIAC giving them a heads-up was nice of him, or it, technically, he'll have to be an idiot to trust the machine at face value, when he knew little about it, other than what Thomas and the others had reported.

For all he knew, this might well be a ruse to lure them into the Digital World, though what end that would serve, he did not yet know. "I need to know more. Who and what is thís 'threat'?"

ENIAC processed the question, uncertain of how much to reveal to DATS at the moment. The computers that he communicated through whirred louder than Miki and Megumi thought they ought to, a sound that Kudamon was deeply familiar with. Already, them learning of the multiverse had taken place nearly two years before he had planned.

He knew that informing them of too much might disrupt his plans, yet informing them of too little might make them distrust him. He could afford neither possibility, especially at a time like this.

Sampson narrowed his eyes at the display. He recognized full well a set-up when he saw it, which changed the question from 'what was ENIAC trying to make them do' to 'which side was he on'.

Megumi fretted at the notion, as she really didn't feel comfortable with field-work; she lacked practical experience and death was a _very_ real possibility, after all. The blonde leaned back in her chair, off-handedly accepting the cup of tea that Kamemon handed her. If this was as big as ENIAC implied...

An unnerved look formed on Megumi's face when she realized that survival wasn't guaranteed for her and Miki. All they had really done for DATS was computer-work, compiling documents and reports on various Digimon and recently, alternate dimensions. They weren't field agents like everyone else, so hopefully, Sampson wouldn't dispatch them.

"The enemy originates from outside the known multiverse," ENIAC spoke, breaking the silence of the command center, the sharp whirr of the computers filling the room once more, when he finished speaking. Miki gaped in bafflement, wondering how something like that was even possible.

The universe was everything that existed, she knew. That a 'multiverse' existed had been hard to believe in the first place, but now, some long-decommissioned computations-array wanted them to believe that someone, _something_, outside the multiverse existed and wanted to take over the worlds?

It was at the same time mind-boggling and rather predictable, Miki noted, strangely amused at the notion. Even beings that belonged in the worst and most inhuman of nightmares... Even they sought conquest and destruction.

"However, the leader of the hostile army is a human," ENIAC continued, confusing everyone further. Sampson doubted that any of that was true; it made very little sense when examined.

Firstly, if a threat to the Digital World existed, why would a few humans with Digimon partners make a difference? It didn't make sense to him, so he reasoned that ENIAC _was _setting them up.

Kudamon's eyes turned to his partner, wondering why Sampson was hesitating to take action, after a direct warning from Lord ENIAC. Both Miki and Megumi spoke to the display, but received no response, surmising that it was either a recording, or that he ignored them.

Deciding that there was nothing to do about the situation until ENIAC released whatever hold he had on the computers, Miki leaned back into her chair. Sighing, she began to wish that this would end soon.

"Which human?" Sampson questioned sharply. Once more, ENIAC didn't answer him, the sphere instead gleaming more intensely, as though it should be sufficient for a reply.

If ENIAC was attempting to be annoying and obtuse on the matter, it was working. "Which human is it, ENIAC?" He repeated more forcefully.

This time, the coruscating lights faded, giving it a azure hue.

"Akihiro Kurata," ENIAC answered simply. Everyone present shared shocked looks at the mention of that name.

Sampson glared angrily at the computer, forcing himself to remain seated. He couldn't pretend that he ever liked the man while Kurata was alive, but he wasn't about to let ENIAC desecrate his name. "I'm in no mood for tasteless jokes, but I'll dispatch someone to investigate this threat."

...

...

...

_The Digital World, the peak of Spiral Mountain_

The bespectacled scientist watched dispassionately from on high, inspecting the lands that stretched in the horizons. There were grasslands, forests, lakes and rivers, each undoubtedly holding countless Digimon. He knew well that his work, to make a better world, was waiting for him.

He could barely contain himself with excitement; the fate of humanity, to be decided by him alone... If higher powers really existed, and not just some pretentious brat, they would have to be on his side.

Which really just proved, he thought, that there was no-one greater in the world than him.

Behind the man were the four duplicates of the Digimon Sovereign, each much smaller and much stronger than the genuine articles. They eyed the man curiously. Though none of them would ever dream of defying their queen's orders, lest they invoke her fury, the faux-Zhuqiaomon doubted whether the stranger was entirely of sound mind.

"Now, I believe that perhaps that forest should be the first to go," Kurata suggested to the bird-like creature, pointing a thin finger toward the horizon, and a lush forest.

The phoenix looked curiously down at him. "No."

Kurata spun, aghast at the audacity of the creature. Had it just, just... Told him _no_?! He stepped back, realizing that he had no defense against these monsters, if they were to turn on him.

To his befuddlement, he saw that the phoenix, the tiger and the turtle, had made considerable dents in the bedrock. How or why exactly they had eluded him, but he supposed that creatures like them couldn't be expected to have human-like reasoning capabilities. Sad, really, but it meant that they would serve his purposes well.

Though, he was rather curious about how they had done so. They had the general sizes of large trucks, so he estimated their respective weights at a few ton each; hardly enough to rip through solid rock as though it was simple mud.

Suddenly, he realized why they were so heavy. All that liquid composing them... Somehow, it still obeyed the laws of physics, and with that, it had a molecular density, which was most likely enormous.

That left the question, he mused, of how much they exactly weighed. They looked to weigh about five tons, though was it really more in the ballpark of fifty? A hundred?

Yet, this came with a problem of its own. That the square-cube law should prohibit such creatures from existing or collapsing under their own weight was well-known to him, so whatever allowed them to simply side-step it eluded him.

And Sampson wanted such irrational creatures to exist?! Unacceptable!

"Care to remember your instructions?" The Zhuqiaomon look-alike perused him, before looking out over the cliffside, interrupting his musings about the oddity. This world was quite different from his native ocean, it noted. It was so heavy here, and the ground was so soft. "The queen's brother is not to be harmed; therefore, any forest that might contain Tai will not be touched by us."

In truth, Kurata had almost forgotten those prerequisites for being ceded those four, but he supposed that it wasn't a problem. There was still much to do, even if they proved reluctant to harm forests.

Though, it was worrying. If they would argue back over something as trivial as this, how obedient would they really prove?

"Alright, fine... How about that meadow near the forest?" He suggested tentatively, hoping that this hadn't just been some kind of bad joke that that arrogant brat was playing on him. In hindsight, it really had been foolish of him to trust that girl, especially when he could determine next-to-nothing about her.

Though he absolutely loathed admitting it, he had... erred, in his judgment.

"As you command," He heard the previously-unruly firebird answer, flapping its wings wide and creating large spheres of crimson flame at the tips of its four wings, unleashing plumes of fire down on the plains, nearly singing Kurata's hair as they passed by him.

He collapsed, feeling distinctly woozy as he passed out from the sheer shock of his near-death experience, while minutes later, the assault reached their target, setting it ablaze, killing a few Digimon instantly, while the others screamed in terror as they fled, questioning why the Holy Beasts would turn on them.

What had they done to deserve that?

"DRAINING RAIN!" A female voice proclaimed, as a dark rain-cloud formed in the clear skies, unleashing a downpour that dampened the torrential flames, though they weren't altogether put out. Biyomon registered faintly that someone took hold of him, carrying him off, and whispered softly that he'll survive.

She knew that she'll have to leave, before whatever had caused all this managed to attack again, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, into Cherrymon's forest, away from the charred grasslands.

After ten minutes or so, she decided that she was far enough in that Cherrymon could hear her, and gently placed Biyomon on a patch of moss-covered ground.

"Cherrymon! If Peacockmon or a Beast-Spirit shows up, tell them we've got another survivor here!" She hollered, before charging off again to put out the flames.

She cursed loudly once she exited the forest, seeing that the blaze had regained its former intensity, as though she had done nothing to quell it. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead from the proximity to the conflagration.

"DRAINING RAIN!" She hollered again and again, as several rainclouds formed overhead, each doing their part to halt the fire.

By the time the third cloud formed, she felt a bit weary. By the time the fifth one formed, exhaustion filled her body, but she kept pouring it on, lest she permit innocent Digimon to be harmed. When the tenth cloud formed, she collapsed from sheer fatigue, leaving her exposed to the wildfire.

Perhaps, she laughed darkly as she rested amid the ravenous flame and overpowering crackle, weariness wasn't so bad. It certainly helped to drown out the flames licking at her, searing her flesh and depriving her of breath. From the feeling of it, her left arm was already gone. It hurt like it was burnt off, at least, but she felt a bit woozy, so maybe it wasn't...

About half an hour later, Cherrymon saw that the flames were entirely put out, with only faint embers left, much to his elation. That joy disappeared quickly, when he saw a saddening sight.

There, surrounded by the embers, rested the Human Spirit of Water, turned over, with Ranamon's headgear displayed proudly on the pedestal. Faint lights were cast on it by the embers, as if to consecrate the sacrifice that the Spirit-wielder had made.

Cherrymon howled in fury at the sight. To his frustration, all he was able to do was honor Ranamon for her sacrifice when she was owed more. "Rest easy, Ranamon," The ancient tree spoke morosely, as an eulogy to the fallen water-sprite. "Your day is done for now, but there will come another."

Elsewhere on the same continent, a pillar of bright light shone down from the heavens, illuminating a small spot on the western beach. The light faded as soon as it had appeared, leaving the beach as dimly lit as before.

In its wake were a young brown-haired human girl in a purple-and-white attire, along with a tall purple draconic creature. Slowly, she unclipped a device that matched the colors of her attire, from her waist.

She studied the device, while Gumdramon scanned the environment, for this 'threat' that Sampson had mentioned. Somewhat unnervingly, the beach seemed entirely abandoned; no Digimon of any variety were present, whether visibly or audibly, on the cloudy beach.

She wasn't sure whether they even still could Bio-Merge, as they hadn't done so in a month or so. She sighed, really wishing that someone would show and lend her a hand.

She didn't care if it was Marcus, or Suzie or dad; she just didn't think that she could do this alone. She was ten years old, not some kind of superhero like Suzie! Why wouldn't anybody realize that?!

"You okay, kid?" She registered Gumdramon's almost-smugly confident half-growl ask her. To her mild surprise, the ironically-tall mini dragon sounded concerned.

The Digimon studied his partner briefly, wondering why his partner suddenly seemed so... Distraught, he decided to be the right word. Was it simply because she felt anxious after a quiet month? Or was there something else bothering her?

Regardless of which one was closer to the truth, he knew that he didn't have time to talk it out with Kristy at the moment.

"Yeah," She managed a weak smile, though as her tone didn't comfirm her words, Gumdramon didn't believe her in the slightest. Hesitantly, Kristy murmured the half-remembered words, and a blazingly bright light illuminated the beach, visible even to Kurata on the far-off Spiral Mountain.

Soon, a strange creature stood on the beach-side, its fur-covered leathery skin standing out clearly, even under the overcast skies. Gumdramon winced from within, the enormous weight, a pair of high-tech artillery-cannons, on their back forcing the composite-Digimon to lean over.

Reluctantly, he admitted that Kristy did have a point. After a month, being back in this form was decidedly an unfamiliar sensation. Though, feeling Kristy's presence in his mind and body was reassuring.

By himself, he was practically invincible, whether in his Rookie or Champion forms. In this form, that Suzie had called a god, it honestly felt as though there were no such thing as limits to their power.

_"Bit skinny for a god," _He gave a mental snort, getting a mild chuckle from Kristy, though he freely admitted that he knew little about how gods looked, so maybe they weren't. Still, she doubted that they were one, given that they could barely do anything with those space-time powers that Suzie had claimed them to have.

Inter-dimensional teleportation was incredibly useful, but not exactly helpful in a fight, she mused, while Gumdramon disagreed with that assessment, seeing a number of uses for that power, especially if the blasters on their back weren't just decorative.

"Let's go," Gumdramon ended the conversation. Kristy barely had any time to react before she felt him taking control of the body. At a pace faster than either of them could register, the surroundings changed from a sandy beach to the mountain-side cliff on Spiral Mountain.

Once they got a look at their surroundings, however, Millenniumon scowled in frustration, as a few Digimon were eyeing them with only mild curiosity, as though ten-metre-tall humanoids with large cannons jutting from their backs teleporting onto the mountain was a regular occurrence.

More alarmingly, Gumdramon noted the presence of a human in a white coat, which he realized had to be Akihiro Kurata. The scientist chuckled at the sight of the newcomer, wondering if he could persuade it to see reason. Its teleportation ability would prove useful for transportation.

"Hello there," He greeted casually, before his attention was drawn to the artillery on its back. Millenniumon stepped away from the five. Gumdramon doubted strongly that they could beat all four, when they could only teleport and stop time.

Kurata gave little more than a disinterested look at the oddity of that Digimon disappearing into thin air. He scowled when he realized what had just transpired.

Likely, that Digimon was one of those pesky Royal Knights, or worse still, one of those Digimon partnered to humans. He chuckled, musing that he'll never come to understand how Sampson and Damon had thought of that ridiculous notion.

Though regardless of which it had been, he knew one thing to be assured; that he'll have some misguided opposition to crush.

...

...

...

_DATS HQ_

Marcus, Tai, the two Agumon and Sampson watched, all visibly alarmed, when Kristy and Gumdramon suddenly appeared from a newly-formed Digital Gate in mid-air. The commander mused that he'll likely never get used to them opening Digital Gates under their own power, when it took DATS' equipment and considerably electricity to manage the same.

"Report?" Sampson barked, stolid as always, at the two of them, once they had landed on the ground.

Gumdramon stifled a laugh. Had he always been this direct? "ENIAC was telling the truth; four nasty looking Digimon're around, led by a human."

Sampson cursed inwardly, as so far, the warning had proven spot-on. But then, was Kurata really back from the dead? It seemed impossible, as the funeral was long over; he should've rotted away to nothingness by now.

Kudamon knew that the forces of the Dark Ocean were at play here; nothing else could resurrect the dead like this. However, the 'how' of the matter eluded him. He was positive that Dagomon hadn't changed history; if it had, Kurata's death wouldn't have happened.

Or would it? Perhaps, Kurata's soul had been removed from his body, moments before the death of his body... Kudamon decided that_ that_ was likely how it had happened.

Though, it still left their reasons for doing so unanswered; a nearly endless amount of demonic Digimon resided within the Dark Area. By his estimate, they numbered about ten million, if not many more, as that number was steadily growing, so the remaining six Demon Lords weren't in lack of armies to command.

Which made the Royal Knight wonder why the upper echelon even needed Kurata, if indeed it was him, for anything.

"Could you identify these five?" Sampson queried. Whatever had brought Kurata back... What were they after? And how did Kurata figure into their plans?

"A big blue snake, a big red bird, a big turtle with a tree growing on its back, and a big white tiger," Kristy answered. Tai cringed at her description. Vague though it was, he suspected to know the identity of the first Digimon, as did his partner.

What neither understood, was why one of the Harmonious Ones would want to harm the Digital World, rather than protect it. Was Dagomon controlling Azulongmon, like he was controlling Kari?

Tai wondered briefly whether Dagomon could somehow create his own Digimon. It seemed a possibility, but if so, just how many Digimon did he have at his disposal?

"The situation is worse than we had believed, then," Kudamon murmured, with a note of panic in his voice. "Hopefully, Kurata is simply controlling the Digimon Sovereign, and are using them to destroy the Digital World..."

"How's that a good thing?" Marcus questioned, disbelieving of the ferret's statement. How could Kudamon be so callous as to say that 'hopefully' this 'Kurata' guy was simply destroying the Digital World?

"Because, Marcus," The ferret-knight answered, with irritation. "Unless Kurata's somehow controlling the Digimon Sovereign, it means whatever brought him back to life can also create Digimon as powerful as the Sovereign."

Agumon cringed visibly, murmuring that this was not good. Years ago, Azulongmon had given all twelve of them the ability to Digivolve again, with only a single DigiCore.

He didn't know how powerful that 'Sovereign', as Kudamon called him, and the other three were in a fight, though he definitely didn't want to, either. Azulongmon was reputed to be a god, after all, and had definitely backed it up on the few occasions that they'd met.

"We don't actually know if Kurata's still alive," Sampson reminded the group with mild amusement, before his expression dropped.

He knew that he'll need to gather everyone he could, though with... Thomas, Yoshino, Marcus, Kristy, Miki, Megumi, Spencer, himself, Tai, Sora, TK and their respective partners, it was an eleven-on-four match, and the Sovereign had them thoroughly outmatched from the sound of it.

* * *

**And... Cut!**

**Wow, Kurata back from the dead, duplicates of the Sovereign, Tai/Sora/TK in DATS... Am I the only one suspecting the author to be on drugs right now? Because, really, something tells me that this stuff ought to be in a Crack-Fic.**

**And that's without the six other Demon Lord who could pop in at any moment to lend Kurata a hand.**

**Eh, whatever.**


	4. The DATS Strikes Back! VS Baihumon!

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds) **Oh yes they are.**

**...**

**Aw nuts... In Part-1, Suzie claimed not to be able to Bio-Merge with Lopmon, and in Part-2, she claimed everyone in the Tamers-world to able to do it; I'm surprised that no-one pointed that out.**

* * *

On Spiral Mountain, Kurata stood, surveying the lands that stretched from the base of the mountain. Most of the grasslands had been singed away entirely, with an abundance of Digi-Eggs scattered around, resembling black dots on a painting from his spot on the mountain.

It was fitting, he mused with smug satisfaction. Back in the real world, he'd rarely gotten the acknowledgment he was entitled to, but here, in this world of degenerate sub-humans, he was a _king!_

_"No," _Kurata corrected himself. He was more than a mere king, he was a god. The fate of humanity was to be decided by him and him alone. Soon, problems like overpopulation and food shortages would be a thing of the past for the world.

In this artificial reality, there'll be virtually endless amounts of living space for everyone. Once the Digimon were gone, humanity could expand into here to colonize this universe, as they had colonized the earth.

Alternately, humanity could migrate here, and turn the earth into a planet-sized food stock. A smirk crossed his face at the thought. Was there even a word for that concept? 'Greenhouse' came to mind, but those were considerably smaller than cities.

Alternately to either of those possibilities, the Digital World could be transformed into a new Babylon, of sorts; nearly infinite areas devoted to growing food and livestock for humanity.

Regardless of what happened, humanity would change forever, and he'll be remembered as the man who guided humanity into a new age, an age of prosperity and abundance.

Unable to contain himself, he began to snicker with overjoyed mirth. Slowly, his chuckling grew into uproarious laughter. As the man laughed himself silly, he missed an odd phenomena on the western beach, namely a pillar of soft-golden light descending from beyond the skies.

Behind him, both the two-headed turtle and the masked tiger rested, studying him curiously. The tiger wondered what was so funny, and figured that humans were odd creatures.

Presumably he was laughing at himself, the turtle's right head thought. It was understandable, as the left head mused that he'll have laughed at the human too.

...

...

...

For the second time that hour, the fading light-beam revealed a group of humans. However, unlike the girl and the purple dragon who had occupied the beach earlier, a larger assembly was now present.

One was a young man with bushy chestnut-brown hair and dark-brown eyes, about eighteen years of age, dressed in a closed light-blue jacket, coal-black jeans, and a casual pair of sneakers. Beside him was a short orange-yellow reptile with emerald eyes.

Another was a young ginger-haired woman of average height and build in a dark-green jacket and short pink skirt, along with a simple pair of shoes. Behind her stood a large blue-eyed bird with bright-pink plumage.

They were Tai Kamiya, Agumon, Sora Takenouchi and Biyomon. In their own universe, their illustrious reputations preceded them, both in the human and Digital World, serving both to deter all but the strongest of adversaries and attract much unwanted attention from overconfident challengers who sought to prove their strength.

Now in the new and unknown universe they resided in, that renown might as well never have existed. Near them, stood TK Takaishi and Patamon. The teen was garbed in a navy-blue long-sleeved shirt, simple light-blue jeans and black sneakers, lacking his previously-trademark headgear, exposing his messy sandy-blond hair.

Suddenly, everyone present registered the familiar sounds of a skirmish above them.

Looking up, Tai saw three familiar Digimon, Omnimon, Magnamon and Gallantmon, engaged in a furious battle with a Digimon he recognized as Zhuqiaomon. However, Agumon spotted several differences between that Omnimon and the one he and Gabumon had formed.

Not only that, but Magnamon's armor was different than he remembered, nor did he recall Gallantmon's shield having that shape. Just what had happened to them, Agumon wasn't certain, but it seemed to have made them more powerful, if they could stand up to one of the Harmonious Ones.

"Do not Bio-Merge," Kudamon warned Kristy and Gumdramon quickly, just as the girl was about to do so. He knew that if the other knights spotted Millenniumon, there might well be panic, which they couldn't afford at the moment.

"We don't have a choice," Gumdramon retorted, nodding at Kristy, who declared the activation of the Bio-Merge, over Kudamon's objections. In the skies, the knights were given pause, as were the Sovereign-duplicate, by the bright light on the beach.

A fraction of a second later, Omnimon X, Magnamon X and Gallantmon X froze in shock at the terrible sight on the beach. The three had believed the monster gone, but it seemed that Millenniumon had somehow returned.

To Omnimon X's confusion, the destroyer was currently missing the coruscating aurora of the physical form, though a threat of such magnitude couldn't be dismissed simply because of a small oddity like that.

"I'll dispose of it," He barked at his two comrades. They nodded, preparing to resume fighting the traitorous Sovereign. However, before they could, the Millenniumon appeared from thin air, grabbed Zhuqiaomon, and returned to the beach.

Once they were there, Kristy winced, as her lower left arm released its grip on the avian with a sickening crack. Those Sovereign were heavier than they looked, Gumdramon noted dryly, unable to shrug off the pain in their arm.

"AGUMON!" Marcus and Tai declared in unison, the fighter readying his fist while the Digidestined clicked his Digivice. Immediately after, Agumon's form became coated in a bright light.

The light faded, revealing a Digimon familiar to Marcus, Agumon, Yoshino, Lalamon, Millenniumon. It resembled Marcus' and Agumon's Bio-Merge form greatly, but there were differences, chief among which being the presence of clawed armaments on the forearms and the absence of the sword.

"Don't worry, Tai! I'll handle this!" The dragon man declared, visibly shocking the phoenix when the name was mentioned. Before it could speak, WarGreymon prepared his signature attack, a fiery orb contained in the palms of his hands.

It grew quickly to a vast size and was flung at the phoenix, cutting him off mid-sentence, searing through Zhuqiaomon effortlessly. Vast portions of his body were incinerated instantly, leaving only a pair of singed, clawed wings to topple over with a audible thud.

WarGreymon remained wary of the situation, as did Biyomon, Agumon, Kudamon, Lalamon, and Millenniumon. He knew for a fact that defeating one of the Harmonious Ones was a feat far beyond him, beyond all of them, and yet Zhuqiaomon had burned away like kindling.

Not only that, but the phoenix had also lacked the twelve DigiCores that signified him being one of the four. Suddenly, they noticed orbs of coal-black water pouring from both wings.

Patamon narrowed his eyes, as for some reason, the substance seemed familiar to him.

"TERRA FORCE!" WarGreymon hollered, unleashing another gigantic fireball on the remains, consuming the wings along with a great deal of the beach behind them before its energy was expended, leaving a small crevice in its wake.

Kristy winced inwardly, distraught, as the VictoryGreymon look-alike killed the phoenix, with hardly any reservations about doing so. She was aware that it was the whole reason they had even had come to the Digital World, but she didn't feel comfortable with that level of ferocity.

Looking briefly at the other, she saw that no-one seemed overtly concerned with it, making her wonder if she was somehow deficient for not being fine with it.

Without warning, the three knights descended to the beach a distance away from them, slowly beginning to walk towards them. Tai watched Omnimon's familiar blade extend from within the altered WarGreymon arm, as the familiar cannon protruded from within the altered MetalGarurumon head.

Omnimon eyed the group confusedly, wondering what their story was. Most timelines, after all, did not have Tai Kamiya, or Taichi Yagami, and Sora Takenouchi coexisting with Masaru Daimon, Yoshino Fujieda and Touma H. Norstein, so either this was some kind of intersection between the two timelines or it was another side-effect of Lucemon's rampage.

Gallantmon's lance shone brightly, the silvery-blue, deep-gold and sharp-crimson armor reflecting that light slightly, as he wandered towards them, eyeing the Millenniumon warily. He wondered why Kentaurosmon had slacked off or, ENIAC forbid, forsaken his duties. As a Royal Knight, he should've known better than to allow a Millenniumon to exist, whether or not it had realized the full extent of its power.

Magnamon clenched his clawed fists, determined to bring down the monster before them. He knew that it was an incredibly one-sided fight; three X-Digimon, three Royal Knights against a single Millenniumon... The numbers hardly mattered, he noted nervously.

The three knights towered over everyone, with only Millenniumon having a similar height. "What's happened to you?" Kudamon confusedly asked from his spot on Sampson's shoulder, asking the question that everyone wanted to, as those three looked different than their last encounter.

It couldn't be some kind of Mode Change; they looked too similar to their normal states to be thus, and not all of them had any known Mode Changes anyway. Just how much had he missed over the past month?

"The three of us have been infected with a program called the X-Antibody, Kentaurosmon," Omnimon explained to his comrade, never once taking his eyes off the Millenniumon.

To Sampson's confusion, the three Royal Knights stared with frustration at Kristy's and Gumdramon's Bio-Merge, as though their mere existence was offensive to them. Kudamon groaned, remembering well the frustration that the Royal Knights shared for being absent during the original Millenniumon's first war.

Much as they had wanted to aid Ryo Akiyama at the time, all thirteen were simply too occupied in distant universes at the time to do, himself fending off Beelzemon and his armies in the southern quadrant of a pre-cataclysm dimension.

Tai understood the other Omnimon's concerns perfectly; frankly he doubted that another Millenniumon existing, no matter the circumstances, was a good thing, even if it was useful. To control space and time... Could those two really be trusted to wield such power?

The more he thought about it, the implications became more and more horrifying. His expression turned visibly unsettled. The original Millenniumon had displayed a wide range of powers, including a few that seemed to have only a vague connection to space and time.

First time he and Agumon'd met the original, it had defeated the eight of them easily, and recreated several dead Digimon as its slaves. Then again, it had also been Ryo's first meeting with him and Agumon, while it was their second with him; Ryo seemed never to be content with a simple, straightforward sort of life.

How Millenniumon had done so, he didn't understand, but the entirety of the incident seemed some kind of time loop; Machinedramon was defeated, underwent a Jogress with Ken's Kimeramon that was brought back in time, or Machinedramon had been brought forth in time, he wasn't sure which. Not that it mattered, of course. Millenniumon was gone, for the moment.

Then there was the D-1 tournament, and the time-rift. He hadn't enjoyed lying to Ryo, but Azulongmon had probably been right that the knowledge of him failing, not once but twice, to defeat Millenniumon wouldn't encourage Ryo to fight again.

Kristy suddenly felt uneasy, unsure of why those Digimon were glaring at her. Right about now, she really wished that Suzie and Lopmon were here; they could take out those Digimon hands down.

"However, I would know the circumstances behind you associating with a Millenniumon," The gold-plated Knight continued, not a question but an announcement of intent, even an outright demand.

Marcus didn't exactly appreciate them glaring at his sister, but they had other business to attend, he knew, though he still wasn't happy with their attitude. Kudamon winced, not exactly certain how to explain it to them, as he barely understood it himself.

When Gumdramon began to explain it to the Knights, a poor imitation of a chilling smirk formed briefly on Millenniumon's protruding maw.

Magnamon X fell silent, mulling it over for a few moments. The Damon child and Gumdramon Bio-Merging so easily screamed wrong to the heavens. The mechanics and principles behind the Bio-Merge Digivolution were still largely unknown, but he had a nagging suspicion that it shouldn't be as easy as they'd claimed.

"Well, however it happened, we're ready to take on the rest of them!" Marcus declared hotly, performing his signature gesture of readying his fists. Yoshino sighed in annoyance at his predictable attitude.

Gallantmon X stared amusedly at the display, musing that it was a shame that he wished to fight. After all, Kurata had already been slain.

"I am afraid that you have arrived too late," Omnimon X informed them, surprising everyone.

Tai mused that it was to have been expected. After all, they had taken an hour to get here; plenty of time for the other Omnimon, Magnamon and Gallantmon to take care of whatever this 'Kurata' was doing.

Marcus sighed, having rather looked forward to the fight. "Return home, humans." Omnimon instructed them, as the current crisis was far too great to allow human intervention.

"**BELAY THAT ORDER!**" An unfamiliar voice called out to them from afar, its words faded and unintelligible by the distance. Yoshino yelped in surprise as she spotted the enormous white tiger that was charging at them from the distance, as though it was fleeing from something.

Soon, it arrived, well-known to Tai, Sora, TK and the three Knights, both by its deep-white fur, its shimmering white aura and the twelve golden spheres circling it.

It was Baihumon, a Digimon Sovereign, one of the four Harmonious Ones. As befitting such an awe-inspiring creature, Omnimon X, Magnamon X and Gallantmon X bowed before a god they served.

The bracerless Agumon froze in awe at the large Digimon. The white tiger dwarfed everyone, even Millenniumon and the Royal Knights, in size. The only Digimon he'd ever seen with a similar size was the original Millenniumon.

"**You are needed, TK Takaishi,**" Baihumon informed them. His voice was deep and growling, almost animalistic, like some strange synthesis of human and tiger.

The native humans of the group stared blankly at the masked feline. "Why me?" The blonde quizzically asked.

"**Because you are in possession of a Digimental,**" The Sovereign barked at him, irritated with their slow pace. He knew that they weren't aware of what was at stake, but it was still infuriating.

"Why do you need my Digimental?" TK asked in confusion, pulling his D-Terminal from his back-pocket. The Device in his hand reminded Yoshi, Marcus and Kristy of a Nintendo DS, though they weren't sure why he had it or even what it was.

Within Millenniumon, she suddenly felt a sensation like smugness from her partner. One down, Gumdramon thought.

"**It is needed for the creation of a new world,**" Baihumon answered succinctly, which only served to confuse them further. He added under his breath that he prayed it was not too late.

Kristy had no idea who he was, but it was obvious that he was a big deal, so she decided that he was worth listening to. "How can we help?"

"**You cannot!**" The tiger-god snarled at her. Marcus glared in annoyance at him for yelling at his sister. "**Inter-dimensional travel is far too dangerous to be performed now!**"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sampson demanded. He doubted strongly that the Sovereign was right, as they had experienced no difficulty or danger when they performed the Digital Dive.

Though, he sounded certain, so perhaps...

"**It is of no human concern!**" Baihumon roared at him, having just about lost all patience with the humans. "**I will take the Digimental, and make haste. Royal Knights, your task is to locate any Apocalymon within this dimension!**" He instructed the still-bowing knights, who rose from their position, nodding in recognition of their master's order, departing from the beach.

Where they were going, Kudamon wasn't sure, nor did he understand why they were to locate some Apocalymon, when those were all but extinct in the Digital Worlds, existing only in the furthest reaches of the Dark Area.

Suddenly, the lid of TK's D-Terminal flipped open, and the Digimental of Hope emerged from the screen, suspending itself in the air. Baihumon's eyes shone a deep crimson, as the artifact dissolved into golden light that floated towards the Sovereign, infusing him.

TK frowned. Had one of the Harmonious Ones really just stolen his Digimental? He figured that it was hardly needed anymore, not when Patamon could Digivolve to Mega.

Without further words, the Sovereign-Digimon turned, and ran, kicking up a cloud of sand as he took off. Where the semi-divine Digimon had once been was only several bewildered humans and Digimon, who wondered what exactly had just transpired.

Yoshino sighed wearily, as this was gonna be a looooong report...

* * *

**Well, that's certainly a cliff-hanger. As always, Reviews would be well appreciated, even flaming rants.**

**1) As for how Omnimon/Magnamon/Gallantmon became their X-Antibody variants, decide for yourself whether events analogous to _Digimon X-Evolution_ took place in the interim month.**

**2) As for why Baihumon declares inter-dimensional travel perilous and instructs the X-knights to seek out any Apocalymon, that's at least somewhat deducible from hints around this chapter and the previous ones, and will be explained fully next chapter.**


	5. The Super Ultimate Jogress!

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds)

**Bloody hell, this is getting way too convoluted. The simplest interpretation of the whole story (Part 1-3) is that, as far as even I can tell, Kristy's and Relena's future selves traveled back in time, but why they did, I've no clue.**

**Seriously though, anyone who looked for a straight-forward sort of fanfic is advised to turn back. It's gonna be a wild ride.**

* * *

Within the crystalline hall that had previously been the domain of Yggdrasil were now only a white-garbed blonde and several Apocalymon, their reflections plainly visible in the ice-like walls.

The five hybrid Digimon looked down at the small girl with contempt. Was _this, _this _human_ child, truly the one who opposed the rulers of the Dark Ocean, and the legions of the Dark Area?

Despite their contempt for her, none of them were fools. To defeat her was a feat beyond them, and that applied only more so here, in her realm, her place of power.

Norn reminded herself to thank Baihumon for bringing them here, as it seemed not a moment too soon. Universe thirteen had already fallen, and small clusters, twenty or so, were forming around universe ten and fifteen. Thankfully, none of the others had degenerated far enough to register as a threat, though he had no way of knowing when they would; it could be hours or weeks.

More distressingly, the supply of Apocalymon to deploy were running low, with less than a hundred through-out the remaining timelines of the remaining universes, which left only the solution of diverting some of the power from Lucemon's tube into the creation of several new Apocalymon, using two or three of them as a template. Though, if she did, what would they become? What could they become?

Logic dictated that Lucemon's mind might, at least somewhat, influence the created Digimon. They might inherit his whole mind, or only a portion, or retain his sense of pride, which in turn left the solution of creating nearly a thousand Apocalymon to counter Lucemon's move, inadvisable. Reluctantly, the young Digital Goddess conceded that Lucemon had been right to do what he had; the war could not be allowed to continue.

However, to destroy the entire multiverse was too extreme a solution to be permitted, so the conflict would have to continue. Reluctantly dismissing the idea of duplicating the Apocalymon, Norn pondered her alternatives.

The super-dimensional Digimon, Imagomon, would've been adequate, but it was too dangerous to release, lest the ninefold Gaiamon proved unable to re-establish the containment nonagon afterwards. She dismissed that potential countermove, and moved to tertiary plan five, the re-awakening of ZeedMillenniumon.

Instantly after, she deemed that countermove too hazardous. Likely, the dragon wouldn't cooperate, but flee with Ryo. Worse still was the possibility that it might decide to invade the remaining dimensions.

She considered briefly tertiary countermove twenty-seven, the examination of universe twenty-four for people, objects and powers that might prove willing and able to aid her.

She decided against it, as the nearly infinite contents of that universe were utterly incomprehensible to them. Perhaps, her thinking was too limited; after all, there were many other dimensions and 'pocket dimensions', as the various groups of humanity had termed them.

There was the Megidramon Abyss, for one. She didn't exactly know the exact number banished to that murdered dimension, but she recalled it being in the vicinity of a hundred. Easy enough to determine, she knew.

Reluctantly, she dismissed that possibility as well. The Megidramon were mindless savages. They weren't any more likely to carry out the task than ZeedMillenniumon was.

Perhaps, Kristy Damon's and Gumdramon's Bio-Merged form would prove a suitable replacement for the Apocalymon, provided that they could survive long enough.

She doubted that they could, since they were still too hampered by inexperience and insufficient knowledge to truly make use of Millenniumon's space-time powers. Indeed, neither Millenniumon had shown or indicated an ability to create black or white holes, so she decided that possibility unlikely.

Though, she would have to dispatch someone to the artificial sixty-four plane dimension of the Time Lords and request that the new Millenniumon be allowed to remain free, as the power that they possessed might be a useful asset in event of a time war.

That was dismissed as well, because she remembered faintly that the Time Lords considered their business with the Digital and Analog Worlds finished after the Megidramon uprising.

Her quarter yoctosecond of speculation time over, her attention returned to the Apocalymon. Her eyes shone a pale gold, as one of the Apocalymon disappeared. It hardly took much effort to transport the Apocalymon to the relevant universe, Norn mused, before looking downwards, at the miniature simulation of the multiverse that Yggdrasil had fashioned some time ago.

Embedded in the platform around the starry sphere that she knew to be the universe occupied by the DATS agents were several other spheres, though these were entirely jet-black, and devoid of starlight.

She watched briefly as one of the jet-black orbs shone with fierce golden light that dimmed quickly. To her frustration, the orb was still present after the light had dimmed, necessitating the deployment of another Apocalymon.

Suddenly, she registered the DATS universe crackle with violet energy, and a moment later, the arrival of the Data Squad and the three Digidestined. The Apocalymon barely reacted to them, while Norn turned to face her guests.

Millenniumon and Yoshino looked confusedly around, as the 'check-in station' hadn't looked like this last time they were here, though she wasn't complaining as it was definitely an improvement.

The composite Digimon blinked when they saw Millenniumon's reflection in the crystalline walls. Was _that _really what their face looked like? No wonder people reacted like that; they even had a _horn!_

Kristy giggled briefly, an utterance made unsettling to the others by Millenniumon's throaty growl. Tai, Sora and TK eyed the Apocalymon warily; uncertain of whether they could defeat five of the Apocalymon when it was just them.

One of the Apocalymon looked back, amused by the tiny creatures. Were _these_ the upstart humans looking to make a name for themselves? They looked so weak, so brittle, so small, and their hideous pallor did them no favor, as far as he was concerned.

Though, if even half of the stories about these strange creatures were true, none of them particularly wanted to provoke them.

He knew for a fact that he and his comrades were more powerful than humans, or he hoped so anyway, but every story, every legend, every chilling fable he'd heard about these otherworldly beings comfirmed his worst fears.

Humans were _insane, _dangerously unpredictable, and never, _never _to be underestimated. Apocalymon wasn't ashamed to admit that they frightened him; after all, every cautionary tale about these creatures shared the same moral.

"I'm happy to see that you're all unscathed," Norn greeted the human visitors. Though, she would have preferred for them to remain in their own universe; Kentaurosmon and the Millenniumon were too important to let die.

"I hardly mind that bit myself," Gumdramon joked back. Norn sighed mentally, knowing why they had come here. Still, it was wasted time and effort. The current crisis exceeded their means and abilities. Given their history, that wasn't likely to deter them, especially not Marcus Damon, though even he might well be given pause by the magnitude of the situation.

"I'm sorry but you can't help," She was loath to inform them. "As strong as you all are, you're far from ready for Type 5 conflicts."

Marcus was about to retort angrily, before Yoshino confusedly asked what Norn meant by 'Type 5 conflict'. "Are you familiar with the Kardashev Scale?" Norn inquired casually.

Yoshino, Marcus, Agumon, Lalamon, and both occupants of Millenniumon's body shared confused looks, wondering what was going to happen now. Sampson, however, was aware of what the Kardashev Scale was, a measurement system for civilizations and societies, though he failed somewhat to understand the relevance of it to the situation.

Truthfully, he didn't really think much of the theory, since the only prerequisite for determining the type was energy-expenditure rather than energy-efficiency.

"The Kardashev Scale is a measurement system, for civilizations and societies," Norn clarified to the group. Yoshino nodded, despite not quite understanding the relevance of it to the situation.

"Type 0 refers to any society that harnesses less than the resources of an entire planet, like every country on your earth," Norn continued. Tai and Sora's expressions turned visibly pained, as Norn's words reminded them of their own lost universe.

The ginger-haired woman doubted that she'll ever come to accept that loss. That it would be forgotten with time, she didn't doubt, but accepted? Never.

"And it progresses from there," Norn continued coolly, ignoring their discomfort. However, Yoshino seemed to be the only one who was even mildly interested. "Type 1 is full planetary resources, Type 2 is the entirety of the solar system, Type 3 refers to the entire galaxy, and Type 4 is the whole universe."

Marcus smirked, hoping that she was done talking so that they could get to the fight. Lalamon mused glumly that they were definitely out of their depth here; Type 5 would have to be controlling multiple universes. Never mind the sort of battlefield in a 'Type 5 conflict', the bud Digimon was more worried about the weapons of choice.

Norn was right, she thought to herself, painfully aware of how small, weak and powerless she really was. What had they really been thinking? A few ordinary humans and Digimon, trying to provide aid to god-like beings? The only one of them who had the slightest chance was Millenniumon, and even _that_ was impossible for those two, given their inexperience with their powers.

"Please, return to the world you left," Norn implored them. "This isn't something you can help with-"

"We ain't leaving without a fight," Marcus retorted. "So just tell us what we're up against here!"

Norn sighed, wearily, while Kudamon glared at the fourteen-year old for addressing Lady Norn so disrespectfully. She'd hoped to avoid dragging humans into this, as per the plan, but the fighter seemed unwilling to be a passive party. In hindsight, it was hardly surprising behavior for him.

"As you may or may not be aware, the Digital Worlds contains a series of artifacts known as the Destiny Stones," Norn explained.

TK cringed visibly, remembering them full well from when Arukenimon and Mummymon tried to destroy them years ago, though he'd assumed them destroyed with the rest of the Digital World.

Marcus and Yoshino shook their heads, having never heard of such things. Kudamon cursed inwardly, kicking himself for not remembering sooner. If the Destiny Stones of any world were destroyed, the resulting devastation could be great enough to make Lucemon's rampage seem a mere nuisance. More worryingly, how many sets had already been destroyed?

"All Digital Worlds have their own set of Destiny Stones," The blonde continued. "These vary in number, shape and location, but destroying any given set would destabilize the universes. Both the Digital and Analog Worlds would become a single universe-sized black hole, capable of devouring the entire multiverse."

Sampson stared, horrified. A universe-sized black hole? He wasn't much interested in astronomy, but he knew that those things could swallow everything, planets, suns and entire galaxies. No wonder Norn had wanted them to stay away from this; they had nothing that could conceivably fight back against a black hole, if it was even possible.

"And someone's destroying these Destiny Stones," Marcus concluded, smirking widely. "Just tell us where and when to fight these guys."

Everyone stared disbelievingly at the eager teen, wondering whether he was in denial or really didn't understand what Norn was saying.

"Marcus, no-one is currently trying to do that; hundreds of sets have already been destroyed," Norn informed him. It wasn't until then that Marcus and his partner truly understood the severity of the situation.

With less than a thought, Norn engaged the holographic display. The DATS personnel blinked in unison as hundreds of solid jet-black spheres appeared around the chamber, a few of them adorned with bright dots and lines.

At the center of the super-dimensional constellation appeared a single, three-digit number, the implications of the number frightening them all infinitely more than the number itself.

"Nine-hundred and forty-two..." Sora whispered breathlessly, while everyone else were too horrified to speak, and understandably so, given the enormity of what they faced. Marcus gaped, unable to believe or understand what he was seeing.

Entire universes weaponized in order to kill them... Entire universes prepared to devour everything and everyone... Marcus didn't consider himself a coward, but he still wanted to run. Not any specific direction or to any particular place, just... run...

How could he be expected to fight, when there was no-one to fight? This wasn't the local punks, or the guys from the boxing club, or even a furious Digimon that was threatening his life, this was something that would kill, just because it existed.

Yoshino wasn't sure what to label the sensation she felt right now. 'Fear' was fitting, but didn't capture the scope of it; blood-curdling terror was more appropriate...

This was far too much for her to cope with. A near-infinite amount of dead alternate universes transformed into enormous black holes just to kill everyone and destroy everything? Just how much did Lucemon hate everything and everyone? She just wanted to curl up in her apartment and maybe cry for a bit, at the thought...

"So how do we fix this?" Marcus broke the tense atmosphere, while everyone was mostly resigned to their fate. His voice was brittle, and about ready to crack. Norn smiled softly in return, darkly amused at his largely-unfounded optimism.

"We don't, Marcus," She reluctantly informed him. "I'm sorry, but the best we can do is stave off the end for a few weeks."

"I would disagree," Sampson interjected, sounding not to be particularly fazed by the prospect of imminent doom. Everyone turned to face him. "So we've got hundreds of hostile space-time continuums trying to murder us all? Miss, we're the Digital Accident Tactics Squad, Japan branch; do try to give us a challenge."

"What're you planning, Mister Sampson?" Norn inquired confusedly.

"I'm planning to dispose of the problem immediately," He answered, with an uncharacteristic smirk. "I frankly don't care what sort of otherworldly horrors we're faced, because we've got one of our own."

Everyone turned to regard Millenniumon, who stared back confusedly. "Why're you looking at me?" Kristy quizzically asked.

"Because, Kristy, black holes are regions of space-time that have been warped by gravity," Commander Sampson explained to her. Yoshino cheered inwardly, as she saw no reason that this couldn't work.

"That's not a possibility, Mister Sampson," Norn informed him with dismay. "The godling children are, at present, too-too inexperienced and too weak to pull that off."

Yoshino and the others sighed in defeat, saddened at having their glimmer of hope dashed. However, Sampson's smirk stayed on his face, undaunted by Norn's assertion, deciding that he could find out later what she meant by 'godling children'.

"There's where _you _come in, Miss Norn," His wide smirk unnerved her slightly, and confused the others. "Millenniumon has the power to fix this, and you know how to fix this."

Norn thought briefly about his suggestion in the span of a pico-second. Certainly, adding another Digital entity into a Bio-Merge was possible; Gallantmon and Dukemon had done so in countless now-defunct timelines with Grani to ascend to Crimson Mode and bring down the D-Reaper, but Grani had only been as about powerful as Magnamon and the Ultimate-leveled Kimeramon, a meager Type-0. She herself was considerably more powerful than that.

Even so, she wondered about what the result of that fusion would be; most likely ZeedMillenniumon, though a previously unseen variety of Millenniumon was likewise a possibility, as were the twin intermediate stages, Moon=Millenniumon and the overwhelmingly rare Sun=Millenniumon.

"If we were to do so, the energies we could generate..." Norn apprehensively informed them. "We could rip the entire Kernel apart, and send every living thing here hurtling randomly into space and time; over one million angelic Digimon would be lost, Mister Sampson!"

"One million!?" Kristy exclaimed, shocked. How could there be over a million Digimon here, when they had seen no-one but Norn, ENIAC and Homeostasis around? Was there more to this place than she'd seen?

Sora was more concerned about everyone being sent 'hurtling into time and space', as Norn had put it. Where exactly would that cause them to wind up? She remembered that Ryo had been sent back to the primordial Digital World by Millenniumon while the bodiless Digimon had been sent far into the future, but would they be as lucky?

For all she knew, she could be sent into the depths of a Digital ocean fifty years ago or be buried beneath a forest in a hundred years from now, and that was assuming she arrived in a Digital World, rather than one of the black holes.

Briefly, Yoshino gave an involuntary smile, being reminded of nothing as much as that Huey Lewis song, Back In Time. "Nervous reaction, sorry," She told the others.

"Can't you send us home first?" Biyomon asked hopefully. Norn shook her head, pointing out that the singularities might swallow them if they were to do so. Though they had been inconceivably lucky to make the journey once, it was too dangerous to make it twice, nor was there enough time to get everyone in the Kernel to a safe distance.

Kristy struggled to keep herself from panicking, but that was easier said than done; she'd only just wrapped her mind around other dimensions existing a few days ago, and now they were being asked to... Actually, she had no idea what it entailed.

Right about now, the ten-year old really wished that Suzie had been present; she would know what to do about this...

She knew that Gumdramon was right; Suzie wouldn't have hesitated to do this. Of that, Kristy was sure. Their time at Spiral Mountain had taught her that much about the older girl.

Gumdramon didn't quite feel comfortable with how awed Kristy seemed to be with Suzie; certainly, the otherworldly Tamer and Digimon were sort-of impressive, even when compared to himself, but he hardly believed it to merit such respect.

Everyone present watched, amusedly, as Millenniumon's expression changed between a wide range of emotions, which, Sampson noted darkly, was perhaps the only thing about the situation that could serve to amuse anyone.

"Are you ready?" Norn asked, softly. She noted glumly that their consent didn't matter, though she would prefer to have it regardless. Neither Kristy or Gumdramon refuted or disagreed with the statement, which Norn took as a sign of them volunteering. Though, she mused darkly that their consent wasn't relevant.

Preparing for the deed, she breathed softly, mentally reciting an old bit of poetry she'd learned of over the years.

Between the idea that was her and the reality that was the Bio-Merged Millenniumon, fell the Shadow. Between the motion that was Millenniumon and the act that was her, fell the Shadow.

Fitting, she mused, though it was hardly surprising when the poem was hand-picked for the occasion. However, she worried whether the DNA-Digivolved form of Millenniumon could truly host her mind.

Certainly, the Bio-Merge Digivolution melded together the minds and bodies of a human and a Digimon, allowing them to co-exist within the newly body, but could that body truly contain her mind as well?

Still, only one way to find out, she figured. "Norn and Millenniumon: DNA-Digivolve to-" Her voice proclaimed, echoing through the crystalline chamber. Everyone stared confusedly as her body dissolved into what appeared to be a golden mist.

Millenniumon looked alarmed at their body, a split-second before it likewise dissolved into a dark-purple mist that mixed with the golden mist Norn had become. Then, a blinding light flashed, illuminating the entirety of the room, as the floor trembled underneath them.

The last thing they heard was a strange, energetic and melancholic piece of orchestral music spreading throughout the room, and a soft current of electricity tingling in their bodies before they felt only the fall and darkness, when the crystalline floor crumbled away beneath their feet.

* * *

**1) The 'Time Lords' Norn mentions _aren't _the Gallifreyan ones; they share the name and the chronokinesis, but that's it. Additionally, they haven't been invented for this story; the Digimon Franchise already has these 'Time Lords' present in a weaker form. Hardly takes a genius or a PHD to figure out their present identity.**

**The Megidramon conflict and The Megidramon Void, however, have been invented for this story.**

**2) A Millenniumon-species Digimon causing a vast explosion sending people hurtling through space and time... Where have I heard that before?**

**3) As for the apparent music they mention, you'll probably not guess what it is, but it is absolutely fitting for the scene, I'll say that much.**


	6. Digimon Data Squad: The Grand Tour!

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds) **Well, its Norn + Millenniumon... **

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CAN AND _WILL_ FEATURE WHAT MAY WELL BE THE MOST SEXUALIZED DEPICTION OF OPHANIMON IN THIS OR ANY FANFIC. READER DISCRETION IS ####ING ADVISED.**

**People who desire such things, however, are advised to skip around to 'Digital World 07'. Mine isn't to judge.**

* * *

Within the central hall of the multi-dimensional Kernel, nearly demolished as it was, the two mists swirled around in the air, both instinctively trying to overpower the other while also trying to remain separate, despite that Kristy and Gumdramon were only conscious in the vaguest possible sense.

Within the mixed golden-purple fog on a layer of reality that both inhabited and transcended the physical, Millenniumon's body was visible. Their eyes became dull and lifeless as their flesh, fur and machinery seemed to wither away into nothingness, revealing the slab of translucent crystal that existed within their shared body.

However, rather than the elemental shade of malevolence that was Moon=Millenniumon, an altogether different creature, of brilliant white light, dwelled within. Its name was Sun=Millenniumon, and while its presence within the Bio-Merge's potential line hadn't been anticipated, Norn knew that it wasn't entirely unexpected.

Moreover, Sun=Millenniumon's presence served to alleviate some of Norn's concerns about their worthiness to wield the power of Millenniumon; the Gaia Origin member wasn't guilty of the same abuse-of-power as Ryo's former partner was, after all.

In hindsight, she really ought to have remembered the Gaia Origin sooner, she mused...

As soon as Norn had completed that thought, the crystal cracked, and the soul-Digimon was freed to assume the ultimate form of the Millenniumon-species. The light composing Sun=Millenniumon was abrubtly lit ablaze by a fire that wasn't fire, emitting no heat nor light, consuming no oxygen or fuel.

As if knowing instinctively the form that it would soon assume, twin trails of flame shot forth from the composite of human child, Digimon infant and Digital deity. One trail was jet-black while the other was deep-crimson; both fires formed an head and an arm from the oceans of flame that were the main body, while bands of turquoise-green data formed around it, keeping it stable. Their eyes shone a blazing white, as if to meet the gaze of ENIAC.

And so it came to pass, ENIAC mused while in awe of the sight, that the fourth of the two-headed red-black dragons had been created, right before their very eyes.

Norn marveled at the power that was now at her fingertips. The absolute power to rewrite space and time... less than a thought, and it would become a reality!

Less than a thought and she could undo all the horrors, travesties and injustices of history! She could wipe away the D-Reaper invasion, and the events that led to it. The Dark Masters could be stopped before they even existed. The Xros Wars could be resolved on the very first day!

And all that was simply across the planes of the Digital Worlds. In the Analog World, there was so much she could do. She could expunge the very concept of weaponry, that served no purpose but to kill other living things. Fire-arms, nuclear missiles, knifes, explosives, it could all go away!

However, before she could do any of that, the singularities had to be dealt with, which was hardly a difficult matter. Millenniumon's space-time powers, backed by her vast supply of energy... Norn, ENIAC and Homeostasis thought in unison that omnipotence was a gross underestimate of her capabilities.

The glowing of the indentations in their two heads, the closest thing ZeedMillenniumon had to eyes, intensified momentarily, while the jet black spheres embedded in the multiversal platform dissolved into disparate particles that faded away.

As soon as it was gone completely, the number on Norn's conjured display indicating the singularities dropped incrementally.

"**Nine-hundred and fourteen,**" Homeostasis droned, his voice sounding more like a rockslide down a mountain-side than any sound, inflection or tone that human vocal cords could produce. From the platform dissipated about ten of the onyx orbs.

ENIAC mused absently that had the humans been present, they would have been befuddled, though more likely horrified, by the ease of which entire universes died, the multiverse pruned to ensure the survival of the whole, a near infinitude of dimensions euthanized to ensure the stability of so very few.

"**Nine-hundred and one,**" Homeostasis continued, while the orbs continued to disperse. "**Eight-hundred and eighty-six... Eight-hundred and seventy-six... Eight-hundred and fifty-five... Eight-hundred and thirty-eight... Eight-hundred and eighteen...**"**  
**

That was as far as Homeostasis got before ENIAC lost interest in the morbid countdown. A few minutes later, the degenerated universes were gone, ZeedMillenniumon separated into Norn and Millenniumon.

Kristy looked confusedly around, while Millenniumon's body did a full rotation, though the movements were sluggish. She wondered confusedly where everyone had suddenly gone, while Gumdramon wasn't much interested, before she remembered what Norn had told her.

Suddenly, she made a horrible realization; Marcus and the others were gone... because whatever power everyone thought that she and Gumdramon had when they were like this had-!

She was unable to keep herself from letting out a pained howl, startling Gumdramon and Homeostasis, though ENIAC was more comprehending of the situation.

"Worry not, young one," Kristy registered his stern voice. "The matter is less severe than it seems."

"Whatta ya mean?" Kristy confusedly asked, while the growl in Millenniumon's voice was more pronounced than she'd intended.

"I mean, Kristy Damon, that the humans and Digimon who were lost in time are retrievable," ENIAC informed her.

"REALLY?!" Millenniumon exclaimed happily, their tone influenced by Kristy more so than Gumdramon. "That's great, where're they?!"

"Scattered to the winds, through-out multiple Digital Worlds," ENIAC answered, mentally opening a portal in the floor in front of Millenniumon, to the universe that Richard Sampson had been hurtled into.

Privately, Norn worried whether it was wise to potentially allow Kristy and Gumdramon this knowledge. They might potentially sow the seeds of a time war, if the power were to be over-used; but then, she knew that deciding the actions of humans weren't her right.

Indeed, it might even prove beneficial to have the timelines of the universes branch off, she mused, as she watched the Bio-Merged Digimon enter the inter-dimensional wormhole.

Homeostasis watched over Millenniumon's trips with faint interest, noting the Digital space-time coordinates for each exit-point to be largely unrelated, in-and-of themselves.

...

...

...

_Digital World 21, Timeline 01, Year 100,000, Month 10, Day 30, Central Quadrant_

Yoshino looked around, disturbed at the state of whatever world they had wound up in. Marcus understood why; everything was disappearing. There was nothing around, no Digimon, no humans, just a dying world.

All around them, Digital objects dissolved into stray data that was swallowed by the darkness around them. Had they failed, Marcus wondered briefly, unable to take his eyes off the decaying Digital World.

Had those black holes, or whatever, _not _been stopped? He didn't want to believe it, but it was the only explanation he could think of.

If ENIAC's consciousness, or Norn's, or Homeostasis' were to have been active in that far-future era, they might have explained the degradation as a natural event, the inevitable termination of that Digital World's life-cycle, but alas, the only life left in that world were a pair of humans, amid dust and ashes, and darkness, and death.

An hour or two before, a Digital Gate opened up, preventing them from dying with that world.

...

...

...

_Digital World 10, Timeline 05, Year 25,461, Month 03, Day 02, Southern Quadrant_

Within a desolate wasteland, Tai, Sampson and Kudamon looked around, trying to determine their location and date. To Tai's dismay, Agumon, Sora and the others were here, though he knew that it hadn't been likely either; that three of their group had arrived in the same place and time was nothing short of miraculous.

Suddenly, the ferret-like Digimon spotted a large cobalt-blue pyramid in the distance, recognizing all-too-well, as he was aware of the cataclysmic battle fought within.

He didn't doubt that the owner of the pyramid could sense their arrival, so they would have to escape this era before a few of his minions found them.

"Kudamon, do you know where and when we are?" Sampson asked calmly to his partner, having spotted the pyramid.

"We are in a dangerous place and in a dangerous time," Kudamon answered with a fear and anxiety to his voice that, Sampson noted, was becoming increasingly common for the Knight, though he was aware that it was rarely unjustified.

To his mild confusement, the ferret's eyes darted panickedly around, as though he expected an attack. However, rather than an attack, a Digital Gate spontaneously opened up.

Then, a familiar carapace-coated head extended out of the portal which yielded, if it were to have been made of any physical material, to accommodate Millenniumon's size.

"Come on," Gumdramon grunted impatiently at the three.

...

...

...

_Digital World 07__, Timeline 03, __Year 12,687, Month 07, Day 15__, Northern Quadrant, __Ophanimon's Castle_

The female archangel closed and locked her bathroom door behind her, desiring nothing more than a long, warm, relaxing bath after the harrowing events of the day.

Rebellions in the North Quadrant, discontent in the south... If only the Digimon of this world would accept their rule, then an era of peace and order would soon follow...

Alas, her husband was occupied with quelling riots in the east and west as he often were, or so she presumed, leaving her alone in the castle, along with a measly two-hundred angels to aid her in the event of an attack.

She reflected that them ceding from the Kernel, so long ago, had been unwise as they were left with a small, slowly-increasing, rapidly-decreasing amount of soldiers, but it had been a necessity; God's laws were too restrictive, she mused as she readied the makeshift swimming-pool for use.

Almost immediately, she registered the familiar sound of waters coursing into the pool. Reaching down with her hands to her faulds, she pressed down slightly, a meager amount of force proving sufficient to undo the lowest segment with an audible click. With mild difficulty, she managed to dismount the armament from her body.

After placing the customized fauld in their usual spot in the wall, she proceeded to do so with her remaining four armaments, leaving her legs covered only in her highly loose-fitting immaculate white dress, as well as her low-heeled sabatons.

Eager to be free of her battle-armor, she took off her shoes, revealing her fair-skinned feet that consisted entirely of skin and flesh, her toes lacking the nails that human feet would have.

As she had with her other garments, she placed the shoes in their indentation in the bathroom wall. Subsequently, she removed her gauntlets, exposing her dainty fingers, entirely devoid of anything that could be considered to be fingernails by human standards, though they did not seem to be affected by it.

Soon, the gauntlets occupied their former and future location beside her shoes. Ophanimon put her fingers into the small indentations of the armor that guarded her waist and hips, twisting it slightly, and guided it down her legs, removing it with ease, also making her dress less constrictive.

The angel placed the bulky piece of armor with the others, in the wall depression which still held considerably space for more objects. Ophanimon continued to undress, guiding her vambraces coating her right back into their original state, the first vambraces sliding underneath the second, the second sliding underneath the third, the third sliding into place underneath the fourth.

Half of her vambraces completely retracted, she dislodged the spoke-like armor-piece from her body, adding it to the still-growing pile of armaments, the vambraces sliding outward slightly as it was placed on the right side, as if to ornament the pile in some way.

Moments later, the matching left piece of Digizoid armor was placed on the left side, mirroring the position of the other garment. Her chest-armament, a mixture between a gorget and a cuirass, came undone as easily as the others had.

Once the chest-plating and her golden wings were dislodged, her ample chest sagged visibly, as there was nothing but her dress to support them. She gave a brief murmur of mild contention, as her sole remaining pair of wings twitched visibly, seeming to feel elated at their newfound freedom of movement.

Having savored the unfamiliar freedom for a moment, Ophanimon placed the large armament into a secondary indentation in the bathroom wall that had been shaped specifically to store the armor.

She placed her fingers on her helm, noting briefly the sensation of the cold Digizoid metal against her fingertips before it faded from her mind, revealing her warm turquoise eyes, silvery-blonde hair, prominent nose, pale-pink lips and elegant facial features that a human model, male or female, would envy.

Once the helm had been deposited atop the pile of armaments, as though an elaborate sculpture, she guided her pristine-white dress off her body, revealing her full breasts, curvaceous figure and a lithe tuft of soft-gold hair in the angel's nether regions.

Fully disrobed, Ophanimon turned around, pleased to see that the swimming-pool was fully filled. She strode towards it, tensing when she took the first step on the ceramic staircase descending from the bathroom into the pool, as the warmth of the waters had been half-forgotten, and she had partaken in this particular recreational activity only rarely in her husband's absence.

She paused before taking another step, feeling both a slight jolt on her spine and her nipples stiffen, as she remembered the countless love-filled nights she'd spent with him in this room and their bedroom.

She longed in her heart to feel his gentle caress once, but she knew that given their duties and responsibilities, it might well be months or even years before they could enjoy such intimacy again.

Suddenly, she sensed something, energies that reminded her of the Kernel, permeating the airs of the bathroom, recognizing it for what it was; another attempt at her life.

Whatever was approaching couldn't be very powerful; the castle safe-guards would disrupt teleportation if the trespassers posed a threat; unless they actually originated from the Kernel, but she dismissed that as an impossibility, knowing that God wouldn't go back on his word.

Preparing for battle, her hands became enshrouded by coruscating rainbow-hued lights that took the shape of her lance-staff in her right hand and the shape of her shield in her left hand. She cursed inwardly, knowing that she was exposed and vulnerable without her battle-armor, but she lacked the time to re-adorn it.

Without warning, space itself seemed to blur as several unconscious figures, human and Digimon, dropped onto the bathroom floor. Next, a portal that she recognized as one of God's opened up, and a single lanky arm with leathery black skin and skeletal claws emerged from within.

She recognized it well, as it originated from the darkest of fables. Its owner was Millenniumon, and it signified only death and destruction. Implacable, insuppressible, all-powerful, it heralded only the end of all things and all life in all worlds.

Ophanimon knew those things well, yet she was resolved to fight; her sacred duty was to defend this world, and nothing would deter her. She took a wary step back, assuming a defensive position, yet to her shock, the beast seemed only interested in the humans and Digimon.

"_Most likely,_" She speculated grimly, saddened by these pointless deaths. "_To slay them..._"

...

...

...

_Dark Ocean, Year ?, Month ?, Day ?, Kari's Castle_

Within Kari's undersea castle in the depths of the Dark Ocean, she surveyed her new acquisition from the human world, namely the still-sleeping Yolei Inoue. Deeming her sufficiently restrained, she turned her attention to her human body on the beach, where Hawkmon was restrained by a simple application of mental force.

"Why are you doing this, Kari?!" The bird demanded to know, while the brunette simply chuckled in response. Then, she reached out, placing her hand gently on his forehead.

He wondered briefly what the purpose of that gesture was, before he saw a soft lavender light emanating from Kari's hand, followed by unspeakable agony ripping through his body, the likes of which he had never known.

Amidst the inferno of suffering, he registered only dimly that his body changed shape. Kari studied with interest as the small bird assumed first the avian posture of Aquilamon, then the humanoid shape of Garudamon, followed by the purple, turquoise and fuchsia plumage of Ornismon, the demon bird that had long ago spread terror in the Digital World.

Kari smirked, knowing that this part of her latest Demon Lord was finished. All that was left was to complete Yolei.

Within the depths of Yolei awoke abruptly, realizing a few things about her new surroundings. Firstly, she was naked, which was decidedly alarming, but not particularly important, given her solitude. Secondly, Hawkmon was missing, which she considered rather more worrying. Thirdly, she was tied to a bed. Time to panic slightly, yet keep a cool head, she decided.

She looked around the chamber, having given up on breaking free from the bed that she had been strapped to. There was nothing in the room; the walls, ceiling and floor were the same pale-green shade that she associated more with moldy rotten bread

Fortunately, the walls lacked the pungent smell of the decayed food, though it was hardly a comfort to see anything with that color. She felt a bit nauseated simply from its presence.

Suddenly, the air of the jail-chamber seemed to become more humid, and Kari appeared from nothingness, eyeing the bespectacled teen disinterestedly, with no more concern for her life, death or sanity than any human had for stray water molecules in earth's atmosphere.

Yolei blushed, feeling painfully aware of her nudity in the other girl's presence.

Without warning, Kari's mouth distended her lower jaw moving further away from her head than Yolei believed physically possible, while the flesh and bone in her jaw cracked audibly to adjust.

Yolei gasped; startled by the sight, while her heart-beat quickened so much that the two could almost hear it, amid the absence of other noises in the room. Her disgust only grew when she heard strange noises from within Kari's throat, while her neck bulged to accommodate what was within.

Something was coming out. And Yolei had no idea what.

She got her answer when she saw, within Kari's mouth, eight eyes that shone with icy-blue light. Out crawled a spiderlike Digimon with a wide maw of shark-like teeth on its back, larger than the creature

Yolei screamed in panic at the sight, while the spider leapt to the floor, crawling towards the bed where she was bound. She didn't know what to focus, as she thrashed about in the bed, determined to break free and get away from whatever those things that Kari had birthed were!

Suddenly, she froze, realizing what she had just thought. Kari had... birthed an actual Digimon. Dagomon had kidnapped the sweet and friendly Kari, and turned her into just a monster that existed just to create Digimon for his armies. In an instant, her panic was gone, replaced by sympathy for her old friend and hatred for Dagomon.

While she pondered, another spider emerged from Kari's mouth, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and Yolei screamed mentally that she wanted it to end!

As if Kari had somehow heard her mental plea and decided to be mockingly literal, the next thing to emerge wasn't a spider but a larva, that resembled Wormmon greatly. However, to Yolei's horror, the creature had no head. Instead, there was simply an orifice, revealing its insides which were riddled with fangs. Yolei saw nothing else within, no organs, no eyes, nothing but flesh and fangs.

In that moment, everything became abundantly clear to Yolei. Whatever Dagomon had done to Kari, it had caused her to no longer be human.

"Your choice, Yolei," She heard Kari's voice sneer at her in her mind, even as another Digimon forced its way out of her throat. "Serve me as a Demon Lord willingly, or I'll have to force you..."

Yolei ignored the command, as she tried to ignore the sensations of the spiders and larvas nibbling her skin and clawing away at her, even as they drew blood. "Kari, I promise, whatever Dagomon did to you, we'll fix it!" She stuttered, audibly and visibly pained, at her friend, while struggling to suppress a scream.

"As you wish," Kari drawled at her, immediately before everything went dark for Yolei. Soon after, she awoke again, freed from the restraints by the newly Lilithmon.

However, the human that had awoken was not the same person that Kari had put to sleep. The cold, uncaring, inhuman look in her eyes proved that, as did the blood-red gleam emanating from them, despite there being nothing within them to emit such a light.

Lilithmon extended her fleshy hand, forming an orb riddled with life-less eyes. The being that was formerly Yolei inspected it briefly, noting that it seemed to be made of something that was as intangible as darkness, as cold as water and as warm and soft to the touch as flesh.

Noting briefly the nudity of the body and finding it disinteresting, the unknown being accepted the shadowy orb from the Demon Lord of Lust, enjoying the sensation in her skin as Shademon wrapped itself around her body, seeming to crave the female body that had willingly accepted.

Gone were the morals, values, interests, dislikes and humanity of Yolei Inoue, the Digidestined. In their place was now the singular, overriding desire to serve at the pleasure of Mistress Kari that filled every part of Yolei, the Demon Lord of Despair.

Elsewhere in the castle, Kari stood, immobile, in a hallway, awaiting her lord's presence. "My lord..." She whispered, fainter than any human could hope to hear.

Then, as though that murmur had been sufficient to summon Dagomon to the hall, a deep-blue tentacle seemed to grow out of the left wall. By Dagomon's standards, it was no larger than a finger, while by human standards, such as Kari had once been, it was the size of a burly arm.

The tentacle was long and sleek, consisting of nothing more than dead, degenerated flesh, whether inwardly or outwardly. Slowly, the tentacle began to approach the dress-garbed brunette, who remained as immobile as before.

As though it was confused or annoyed by her lack of reaction, or simply seeing a prospective challenge, the tentacle penetrated the bush of unkempt brown hair, pushing forcefully into her womanhood, though this too failed to elicit any sort of reaction from Kari.

Even as it buried itself deeper and deeper within her, she continued to pay it no heed, despite the trickles of blood running down the sides of tentacle. Her face remained impossibly emotionless and insensate, while the vast tentacle prodded away at her cervix.

After rigorous exertion, Kari's innards gave away to Dagomon's tentacle. Her cervix was pried open, which would have caused unbearable amounts of pain if Kari were to have been human, while the tip penetrated into her womb where it ceased all movement.

Slowly, the tip of the tentacle began its task, jets of opaque dark-grey liquid shooting from it, filling her with Dagomon's seed. Seemingly not content, the tentacle continued to unload into her, relentlessly, over and over again.

Kari placed a soft hand on her stomach, which had become so filled that she appeared pregnant already. The tentacle dissolved into dust, both the part of it within her and the part that the wall had sprouted, while the thin orifice of her womb became sealed in a thin layer of skin, in order to keep the fluids within her contained.

* * *

**Well, this was a big one.**

**1) Yes, I realize that making Yolei a Demon Lord violates established canon regarding the seven, but I'm certain that her detractors won't object to it. As for the Despair bit, some branches of Christianity (Orthodox, and others) view Despair as the eighth sin.**

**And no, I'm not among those detractors; making it Yolei makes sense given that Hawkmon unoffically has _Ornismon_ as a possible Mega, even more so because of Kari's history with Yolei.**

**2) Hawkmon forcibly-Digivolving into Garudamon & Ornismon is part of my HeadCanon theory that Biyomon/Hawkmon/Falcomon are the same exact species but different breeds, like Veedramon/ExVeemon, with the outcome depending on the gender and breed. **

**Or, in simple terms:**

**Hawkmon (M) → Aquilamon → Garudamon → Ornismon / Hawkmon (F) ****Birdramon → Silphymon → Valkyrimon  
****Biyomon (M) → ****Aquilamon → Garudamon → Ornismon / Biyomon (F) ****→ ****Birdramon → Garudamon → Ornismon  
********Falcomon (M) ****→ ****Peckmon → Crowmon → Ravemon / **Falcomon (F) **********→ ****Aquilamon → Garudamon → Valkyrimon**

**********************3) As for Kari/Yolei scenes, there's a simple reason for them being there. Dagomon's a Cosmic Horror; I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting if the Dark Ocean plotline had been followed up on in 02.**

**********************Millenniumon, Megidramon, D-Reaper, Dagomon and the Dark Ocean, the Demon Lords and the Dark Area... Is it just me or does the Digimon meta-series seem tailor-made for a Cosmic Horror Story?**

**********************After all, each and every one of these things could subjugate or exterminate humanity if they cared to... At least, there're some Cosmic Horrors siding with humanity.**


	7. The Siege of Ootori Elementary: Part 1

**Review Responses**

AspiringWriterGirl) **That's kinda what happens when ya begin with Part 3 of something. As for what happened to Kari, I believe she got thoroughly tentacle-fucked and probably impregnated too. I thought that was obvious.**

The Keeper of Worlds) **This is a Cosmic Horror story; if ya want something with rudimentary decency, look elsewhere.**

**Brand new year, huh... 2014 is gonna suck. 2013 was better aesthetically... Wait a tic. Rule 34 (20+14)... I don't like those implications...  
**

**Yeah, this bit's where the plot gets F!cked up... and possibly self-aware... I think...  
**

**Mind you, if you've got any ideas you'll like done, feel free to suggest them; I'll appreciate the help.**

* * *

_The Dark Ocean, Timeline ?, Year ?, Month ?, Day ?, Everywhere and nowhere_

Darkness. The strange. The incomprehensible. Humans and Digimon, if they were aware of him, believed him, Dagomon, to embody all those things, existing as an extension of those concepts.

He himself mused that he were, naturally, inasmuch as he was any given concept or description. He wasn't a being of flesh and blood, like humans and other earthly animals, or an entity of data like the vast majority of Digimon were.

He and his bride, along her pet Digimon, existed simply as beings of consciousness, the very thought-force animating the waters of the Dark Ocean and giving the Demon Lords their marching orders.

They were immortal, unkillable, omniscient and omnipotent, so of course, he was content to simply exist at the pinnacle of all creation; conquering the multiverse as his underlings seemed to desire held no real interest for him, though it was rather amusing to watch them.

Though, he didn't delude himself that he had no equal; power-wise, the Digital World's God, or any of its three aspects, could certainly be said to rival him. Though, it was rather amusing that a being like that existed.

In knowledge, that God might as well be a child compared to himself.

Oh certainly, the self-proclaimed 'God' had done some rather interesting things with those Digital Worlds when they were shaped billions of years ago, such as mapping every possible of space-time within the multitude of dimensions, and do away with time-travel hazards.

Digital World whatever, Timeline whatever, Year whatever, Month whatever, Day whatever, Hour whatever, Minute whatever, Second whatever, Quadrant whatever...

The space-time coordinates that 'God' had thought up for the Digital Worlds was laughably simple to Dagomon, but he knew that it made targeting any space-time event for analysis or alteration simpler.

How was this being that held a complete and utter awareness of the infinitude of space and time in multiple universe comparable to a mere child, one might wonder. The answer was simple, Dagomon reflected.

Whereas ENIAC, Norn and Homeostasis knew of everything that transpired in the Digital worlds that the ancient computer had shaped, Dagomon knew of things undreamt of, even to his cherished bride, and to those three, and to his Demon Lord servants, and to the Sovereign, and the Celestial Digimon, and to absolutely everyone in the Digital and Analog Worlds.

He knew of things that no-one could know, while retaining their sanity. It was the very same knowledge that Lucemon had uncovered, which had driven him to destroy vast swathes of the multiverse, simply to feel important, or at least not inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Dagomon knew, quite simply, of the readers of the story. He knew of his fictional nature, that no matter no how vile or horrifying his deeds were, they did not matter because they were not ultimately real.

He took comfort in that, because he knew that it meant that no-one could stop him from doing as he pleased, or try to reason with him if he did not wish it, nor could they judge him, for who could place a fictional entity on trial?

Most importantly, while they were aware of him and he was aware of them, he possessed a capability that they did not. He could hunt them down at his leisure, whenever he wished, whether they were awake or asleep, alive or dead.

"Hello," He greeted the reader, unable to entirely subdue his mirth at the devastation and torture his bride would soon bring. "'The Keeper of Worlds', was it? I am going to enjoy your torment, and your suffering, and your humiliation, and your pain. But let me assure you all that there _will _be despair and agony enough for everyone."

He knew however that now was not the time for such indulgences; now, it was simply his, to play the role of narrator and narrative force of the story.

As near as he himself could tell, he exposited to about a few dozens of readers including a few he thought to be too young for this sort of story, after the singularities had been sealed, the humans and Digimon returned to their appropriate universe.

The newly re-numbered thirteenth universe had been re-stabilized after Lucemon's destruction of it's twelve Destiny Stones, though how God had accomplished such a feat eluded both his knowledge and his interest.

Presumably, Dagomon thought derisively, she had thanked them for their power, for their kind hearts, for their strength of conviction, and other such trite utterances before they had gone back.

For a short time afterwards, the humans and Digimon were able to enjoy a quiet couple of weeks after many grueling battles and innumerable super-dimensional disasters. However, he was well aware that it was only ultimately temporary. With every passing word of narration, new threats to their brittle peace formed in the numerous timelines left as the author thought up more of his demented ideas.

Indeed, another such threat was currently being formed by his bride. Upon further inspection of the beachside, he corrected himself that her latest weapon was already complete.

On the beach stood Yolei, backed by Ornismon. She was garbed in a simple leather-duster that matched the color of her hair, with seemingly nothing underneath. Her lavender-pink tresses hung freely behind her, while in her eyes were a blood-red luminant ring that circled her pupils, tinging her eyes and glasses a faint crimson.

Her lips were curled in a cruel smile, her mind resolved to procure the godling children. Knowing that she might need soldiers for this venture, the newly-minted Demon Lord resolved to make use of their shared right, the right to command armies of demons and monsters.

Indeed, some of the human's memories suggested the perfect four to use...

...

...

...

_Human World 02, Timeline 03, Year 2006, Month 07, Day 03, 12:34, Japan, Tokyo, Ootori Elementary Roof_

Kristy sighed, garbed in her usual pink-shirt-and-blue-skirt attire, in exasperation directed at her partner, who had suddenly showed up at the roof of her school. Somehow, he had managed to transform into Arresterdramon, despite that she hadn't used the Digivolution card on him in a while.

The armored dragon in question laid on the concrete, staring blankly up into the sky, as clouds drifted by.

"What are you doing here, Arresterdramon?" She asked, visibly annoyed. She was aware that Digimon and the Digital World, or at least theirs, was kinda-sorta public now, but that didn't mean that she was at ease with him walking around in public. "What if somebody sees you?"

Indeed, a rather large group of students and teachers had gathered in the yard, gawking up at the ten-metre tall dragon that had arrived on the school roof, and, of course, the girl who seemed familiar with the beast.

Unnoticed to everyone, both on the ground and on the roof, a young bespectacled woman garbed in a lavender duster strode into the school-yard. Eyeing the humans disgustedly, she decided to commence the invasion.

From underneath her coat, a shapeless dark mass poured, forming a vast blob behind her. Soon, the blob was pulled back beneath her jacket, leaving in its wake, the first wave.

On the front row were fifty identical creatures that seemed to be part human woman and part monstrous spider. The creatures had the pale-white hair and tawny-gold eyes. They hissed furiously, driven by mindless instinct, awaiting only their lord's command.

On the second row were another fifty identical creatures, though they were more reminiscent of mummies, as all were rotting corpses wrapped in bandages and animated by something other, something more, than mere flesh and bone. Both strangely and alarmingly, they all wielded large machine-guns.

On the third were creatures that were best described as demonic and undead, nightmares given form. All manner of flesh had long since withered away, revealing their scarlet bones and jet-black skulls.

Their ribs seemed crooked and bent to cling to the large orb embedded in what might once have been their torsos. They held firm holds of their staffs, preparing for battle, however unsatisfying it could prove.

On the fourth row were fifty further creatures, though these almost seemed both demonic and angelic in equal measure. They possessed the same, slender, well-endowed builds and chalky-white skin, their nipples showing through the thin black leather fabrics their bodies were garbed in.

On the fifth and final were a bird that dwarfed the entire school, poised to burn away the lifes of anyone who attempted to escape the school.

Almost immediately, the student body and teaching faculty spotted the invasion forces, screaming as they fled into the school. On the rooftop, Arresterdramon cursed loudly, his mind racing to find a way for Kristy and him to escape.

On the ground, the leader of the invasion was quick to issue orders. "Ornismon, take flight, and let no-one escape. LadyDevimon squad, cover the exits. Mummymon and Arukenimon squads, surround the school, and let no-one in or out. SkullSatamon squad, search the school for the godling children."

The troops complied immediately, as none of them wished to incur the wrath of a Demon Lord, even one as newly-minted as her. Soon after, the teachers and children trying to escape from whatever had appeared at the school found a handful of demons barring their path.

The only exception was a single teacher who had bravely attempted to try whether the back-exit was safe, only to lose his life, struck down and disintegrated utterly by a single of Ornismon's Cosmic Ray thunderbolts.

"What do we do?" Kristy asked, audibly and visibly terribly frightened by the proceedings, to her partner as the two walked down one of the school hallways.

The dragon didn't respond, instead walking with her further down the hall, which was far from reassuring to the girl. Abruptly, he froze, as the sounds of somebody marching towards them from the corner up ahead resounded through the hall.

Kristy panicked visibly, hiding behind Gumdramon, while the mini-dragon scowled, knowing that in this form, his chances of victory were slim against those things outside.

Regardless, he refused to let them harm her, tensing in anticipation of a fight. Then, their adversaries stepped into his sight, revealing themselves not to be the unfamiliar demons from outside, but a variety of Digimon that both novice-Tamer and infant-Digimon recognized well.

Towards them, a small army of PawnChessmon, clad in the black armor as well as the white armor, marched forth in rows of four, their lances pointed directly at the two.

"**We-have-located-the-godling-children!**" One of them droned, sounding vaguely jubilant. Kristy peeked quizzically from behind Gumdramon, wondering what they meant by that. "**You-will-follow-us!**"

"Right..." Gumdramon retorted dryly, wondering quickly if he could just grab Kristy and run, before remembering that they had gone down here to escape the roof. "Just outta curiosity, how many of you are there in the school?"

"**Irrelevant!**" Another PawnChessmon, a white one, proclaimed at him. Gumdramon drew a ragged breath, seeing only a single solution to the situation.

He'd had a few weeks to mull it over, and every time he did, it seemed like it should work, though he hoped that it did. According to BanchoLeomon and Spencer, him, Agumon, Gaomon and Lalamon were connected directly to their respective partner's DNA-Charges, which was what allowed those three to change into their Burst Mode forms at will.

"_Hopefully,_" Gumdramon thought, while trying to tune out the pain coursing through his body. "_This'll work..._"_  
_

Suddenly, Kristy registered an odd noise, spotting what seemed to be a scar in-between Gumdramon's wings. Strangely, it shone a golden-white hue. Unable to form a reply to it, she watched as more of those scars appeared on his back and wings, signified by that weird sound, which she abruptly realized to be his skin cracking into pieces.

"I'll run... if I were you," Gumdramon winced, smirking despite that his forehead had cracked open, releasing the tell-tale glow. Behind him, Kristy felt the dragon tremble.

Wary of whatever the dragon was attempting, the Chessmon legion stepped back, assuming a defensive position, preparing for combat. By then, Gumdramon's tail and tail-hammer had become riddled in gleaming gashes.

"HERE GOES!" Gumdramon hollered at them, his voice resounding several corridors, informing everyone in the vicinity of his identity and presence. "GUMDRAMON WARP-DIGIVOLUTION!"

Suddenly, his body seemed to be set ablaze as it released a sphere of bright light, pushing Kristy back a few metre.

Within the sphere, Gumdramon's body contorted and twisted as it was forced to assume Arresterdramon's taller, much bulkier body. Stray trails of data hurtled wildly around him, diving into his body to shape Arresterdramon's rubber armaments.

Indicating the completion of that transformation, Arresterdramon lashed his tail. Suddenly, his figure began to shrink while his eyes became lifeless, as though the attempted Digivolution to Ultimate was failing.

However, Arresterdramon ceased to shrink when his body had become nearly half its regular size. However, his armament had changed color. Rather than the sleek-red and dark-orange they had been, they were now a dull navy-blue.

His gloves were instantly shredded from within by the forces exerted by his body, while slabs of navy-blue armor replaced them, coating his hands and fore-arms entirely.

As if to serve as fingers, five sharp metal claws extended out of his arm-guards. From the arm guards emerged identical rings of light that slowly moved up the shoulders. In their wake were now a matching pair of fluid-tanks, the purpose of which could only be guessed at.

Each fluid-tank were covered in a translucent coating, tinged a deep violet by the bubbling, boiling fluids within. Then, another pair formed on his legs, followed by a fifth and final one that replaced Arresterdramon's face.

A swirling mass of data formed a weapon, a double-tipped sleek-silvery lance, while Arresterdramon's tail-weapon gained a vast amount of bulk, the tail itself coated in several scale-like rubber platings.

Instinctively, the fully transformed humanoid dragon's clawed right pseudo-hand grabbed hold of the lance. Suddenly, the mirage-like apparition of Millenniumon appeared, enshrouding the smaller dragon.

"CYBERDRAMON!" The dragon-man hollered, announcing his name, dissipating the light around him, completing the transformation. Kristy gazed, both admiringly and befuddled, upon the Ultimate form of her partner.

He wasn't as big as Arresterdramon, though few Digimon were, but he wasn't around Dad's height anymore, like in his Gumdramon form, though he still towered over most Digimon and nearly all humans.

Suddenly, he moved to dispatch the offending PawnChessmon, moving faster than Kristy could follow or they could react. Almost immediately, the hallway was filled with Digi-Eggs, some lined with white squares and some lined with black squares.

Kristy gaped, shocked by the display.

"Kid?" The newly-transformed dragon turned around. His voice was a dispassionate snarling growl, that rended Kristy unable to answer, as she seemed rooted to the spot by it.

Then, a soft smile formed on her face. She knew that the creature looked nothing like Gumdramon, or that it sounded anything like him, but it had called him 'kid', which was all the proof, regardless of the fact that she didn't much care for the pet-name, that it was indeed him in there, no matter how strange he looked.

"Yeah?" Kristy answered cheerfully.

"How about we go for a bit of a menacing walk, and take back your school?" Cyberdramon suggested.

* * *

**Firstly, I would like to make it known that Dagomon's opinions are not mine, and secondly, I would like to state that my ideas are not demented; 'demented' would imply that they lack an inherent logic.**

**1) As for the Cyberdramon thing, if it could be the Ultimate/Perfect (5) of one purple-hided dragon, why not another?**


	8. The Siege of Ootori Elementary: Part 2

**Review Responses**

The Keeper of Worlds) Heh, well, more's coming up.

Aslan Leon) I think it's safe to assume the possibility exists.

**Just outta curiosity, how strong is Cherubimon, when compared to other Mega-levels? In 02, a Cherubimon took down Seraphimon/Magnadramon in a blow, while in Frontier, he stalemated a pair of Digimon that are very high-order Mega-equivalents, or even Super Ultimates in their own right.**

**I think it's safe to assume that a Cherubimon in Tamers would've displayed similar degrees of Story Breaker Power.**

**Oh, and 'The Keeper of Worlds', as for the 'depth of character' allotted to Suzie, it's more like her being the Roy Mustang of the group, rather than her Canon, mildly-underwhelming self.**

**This story rather fails in the Cosmic Horror department; on one hand, we've got countless destroyed universes and a wide assortment of Eldritch Abominations, but on the other hand, we've got quite a number of people lined up to fight back.**

* * *

On the street outside Ootori Elementary, the whole japanese branch of the DATS were at a tense stand-off with the invading forces that had assumed positions around the school.

TK was unable to entirely suppress a nostalgic smile, having never believed that he would encounter these two, Arukenimon and Mummymon, again. Though, even if they were anything like the ones he'd met a while back, he had no intention of getting into a fight; seven to what seemed like several thousand were _very _steep odds.

Cherubimon watched all this from the crystalline sanctum of the Kernel, where some of the Digidestined, Davis, Ken, Cody and Willis, and a few Tamers, Rina and Suzie, were also gathered, having been summoned personally by Lady Ophanimon herself.

To his irritation, their faces displayed little of the awe that he believed they ought to feel from entering these hallowed halls, though he knew that now was not the time to make known such grievances.

**"The choice remain yours,"** Cherubimon's guttural voice boomed at the convened humans and Digimon. **"Journey to this world and aid its defenders for a short time, or return to the tranquility of your own."**

Scowling, Rina was the first to speak. "Hey, if we can get revenge, we'll do anything."

V.V nodded in agreement, eager to fight. Ken, Davis and Cody eyed her warily, unfamiliar with this side of the red-eyed teen. The three teens shared a look, agreeing wordlessly that given everything that had happened, it was understandable.

"Well, they look like they need a hand," Suzie grinned. "Beside, Lopmon could do with a bit of a challenge, right?" She asked to the bunny, who gave a calm smile up at her Tamer.

Ken and the others stared bewildered at the thirteen-year-old. While the people of her universe were definitely, as far as the navy-haired male remembered, he was more than slightly skeptical that Suzie and Lopmon, alone, could handle so many Digimon.

Cherubimon presumed that the young Tamer alluded to her partner's Mega-level, another like himself, though her short-comings in maintaining the form were known to him, leading him to doubt that the other angel would prove sufficient.

"If Yolei's there, we're going," Davis answered sternly to the angelic rabbit.

**"If such be your decision..."** Cherubimon answered solemnly. **"Before you depart, I wish to repay a debt that I owe four of you."**

The group stared confusedly at him, unsure of what the arch-angel meant. Cody and Suzie speculated briefly that he meant the battle against the other Takato and that Megidramon, but dismissed it, as that had been nearly six months and over two years ago, respectively.

"What sorta debt?" Armadillomon asked the arch-angel. For a moment, Cherubimon seemed taken aback by the quadruped's utterance. The arch-angel shot him an indecipherable look, his beady eyes wide, as though he had seen something surprising within Armadillomon.

Cherubimon broke eye-contact, mildly irritated, for reasons even he himself did not fathom, at the fact that another Digimon had a similar tone of voice as Ebonwumon. **"I have not thanked nor repaid you, after you fought the Megidramon on our behalf. As such, you have been gravely wronged."**

"Aw, shucks, it was nothing," Armadillomon answered simply. "Really, we don't need a reward."

**"Regardless, I insist,"** Cherubimon responded, his tone making it clear that he would not be dissuaded as he extended his right arm, placing a soft paw on the Armadillomon's shell.

In that moment, Cherubimon saw, not with his eyes but with his mind, the full extent of the potential hidden within the quadruped. Hidden with stray parts of his bits and bytes were a multitude of Champion-forms, each of which had a few Ultimate-forms of their own, which in turn led to several Mega-levels.

Other Digimon did have alternate possibilities for their forms as well, such as the Veemon-species primary two lines, Ex-Veemon and Veedramon, but almost never to this extent. Was _this _the innate power of a Digimental-compatible Digimon?

Cherubimon's eyes shifted from Armadillomon, to Veemon, to V.V, to Wormmon, to the Terriermon and Lopmon that were partnered to Willis, to the Lopmon that were partnered to Suzie, in short order, making them all feel slightly uncomfortable.

The angel decided that it was a small enigma to be solved later, while waves of rainbow-colored lights surged from Cherubimon's paw into Armadillomon's shell, causing a golden glow to emanate from it.

Cherubimon withdrew his paw, dispelling the coruscating rainbow from his arm, while Armadillomon's entire body shone brightly.

Within a vast dark space, Cody's Digivice's second iteration appeared briefly, sending a trail of data particles upwards. Nearby, Armadillomon spun around, awaiting the infusion of data.

Rings of DigiCode symbols descended upon him, fading into his shell. Soon, the massive Ankylomon stood in Armadillomon's place. Suddenly, his pale-green turned a blazing white, while streaks of golden light emanated from the ridges of his shell.

Behing him, a large, ornately-designed stone statue, that bore only the slightest resemblance to an angel, appeared. Not a second later, Ankylomon's body became an orange-golden mist that infused the stone-angel, bringing it to life.

The thin line of its squinted eye-pieces flared, while the three-fingered hands were light receded, allowing the fully-transformed Armadillomon to look down at the group through what he noted briefly was his single eye. He noted further that he now wasn't as big as in his Champion-form.

The group stared confusedly at the familiar Digimon, wondering what Cherubimon had done to him, while Rina eyed the vaguely-humanoid Digimon with interest. "Shakkoumon? How did you do that?!" Cody stuttered to the bestial angel.

**"I merely modified his data to grant him access to one of the most powerful Ultimate-forms he had available,"** Cherubimon answered succinctly. **"I trust that such is acceptable?"**

"I guess..." The former bearer of Knowledge and Reliability answered quietly. Frankly, he wasn't comfortable, at all, with his partner's data being modified on a whim, but given what they were about to do, that extra bit of power would undoubtedly come in handy.

Cherubimon turned then to Suzie and Lopmon, eyeing them intensely. **"Alas, I will have to repay my debt to you two later; now, it is time for war!" **The guardian of God's wisdom proclaimed heatedly.

Suddenly, a bright flash of illuminated the crystalline hall for a split-second, and when it had faded, a squadron of battle-ready angels were lined up behind Cherubimon.

The first and second rows consisted of two-hundred MagnaAngemon each, while the third and fourth rows were comprised of two-hundred Angewomon.

...

...

...

_Human World 02, Timeline 03, Year 2006, Month 07, Day 03, 12:50, Japan, Tokyo, Outside Ootori Elementary_

Marcus snarled in frustration, wanting nothing more than to simply charge in and get Kristy to safety. With extreme reluctance, he admitted that likely, Thomas was right; the best they could do was try to keep these things within the school grounds.

"Run along, humans," One of the countless Arukenimon sneered at them, convinced of their superiority in both general numbers and individual strength. "None-"

The demonic spider-woman, along with about a dozen others were silenced immediately, their data dissolving into nothingness, by a flurry of lightning-bolts out of nowhere.

_"Lightning-bolts?!" _Yoshino realized in astonishment, turning around, expecting to see a familiar face. Indeed, behind them were Suzie, along with several others, including what seemed like an entire army of angels.

To her shock, there were _two _Antylamon and a Cherubimon among the new arrivals. "FIRE!" She heard one of the Digimon scream behind her, turning just in time to see the machine-guns of the mummies release laserblasts, and a translucent barrier of bright-pink light block it effortlessly.

**"Stand back, humans,"** Cherubimon commanded them. **"We will dispose of these things!"**

Seeing no reason to argue, Yoshi and Lalamon ran from the barrier, while the other DATS members did likewise, watching in amazement as Cherubimon continued to rain electrical doom upon the mummies and spiders, destroying them instantly.

Lalamon stared in awe of the sight. Just how powerful was a Cherubimon, if hundreds on one was just an unfair match? If she had needed evidence of how powerful that species was, she'd definitely gotten it now. "Am I the only one feeling insignificant?" The floating bud asked everyone.

"No," Gaomon responded, still visibly shocked by the display of power. Suddenly, Cherubimon jerked his head upwards, registering the presence of another Digimon.

Everyone did the same, and in the skies, they spotted an enormous bird-like creature flying around in circles. "What... _IS _that?!" Thomas murmured, aghast, unable to comprehend how they had missed that.

**"An enemy to be brought down,"** Cherubimon snarled.

Cody gasped, realizing what that enormous bird was. "Guys, I think that's Hawkmon!"

"W-what?!" Ken and Davis exclaimed in unison, staring down at Cody. How could that possibly be Hawkmon, the navy-haired male wondered. Abruptly, Cherubimon took off into the skies.

The group stared, bewildered, after the airborne rabbit-angel. Wormmon winced visibly when he watched Cherubimon leap in the path of a blast from the bird, which, Wormmon thought, had to leave a mark, or worse.

Veemon watched as the angelic beast continued his ascent, undeterred by the attack. Despite the bird's attempts to evade him, his paw clamped around its head, while he discharged sufficient voltage to power a small village into it, agonizing currents passing throught its body.

Had the citizens of Tokyo looked up, they would've witnessed a sight undreamt of even to the author of Godzilla, namely a gargantuan wingless rabbit electrocuting a far larger demon bird, which might have caused animal-rights protestors to cry out in outrage.

Cherubimon smirked as Ornismon's body went limp, kept aloft only by the firm grip of his paw. His smirk faded when he sensed the dark energies within the bird. Intense fury filled him at the realization that the Demon Lords, or even the God of Darkness, had dared to violate the mind of a Digimon, simply to create a soldier for their own purposes.

Such a heinous act could not go unpunished, Cherubimon knew, though it was merely another entry on a protracted list of travesties perpetuated by the Demon Lords.

Looking down at the building far beneath him, he decided that there was nothing more for him to do in the human world, leaving the liberation of that school from Demon Lord control in the hands of the humans.

He narrowed his eyes, as brilliant rainbow light coursed over the Ornismon, reverting it to the Rookie state, which was indeed Hawkmon. Knowing that it was potentially too dangerous to leave it in the human world where the corrupted owner could issue it commands, or worse yet, have it assume the Ornismon form once more, he returned to the Kernel with it in tow.

Down on the ground, the assembly stared befuddled, unsure of what Cherubimon had just done. One moment he was there and the next he was gone. More worryingly to Cody, he'd seemingly taken Hawkmon with him.

"We must take action," One of the Angewomon spoke suddenly. "I implore you to have your partners assume their strongest forms."

"Easy enough," Rina smirked, pulling an object from her jacket-pocket that none of the others recognized, though presumed to be her Digivice. Running a finger over it, V.V's Digivolution was triggered immediately, and once the light faded, AeroVeedramon stood among them.

"Ready, Ken?" Davis grinned at him, receiving a nod in return.

In a vast dark space, ExVeemon and Stingmon flew together, emerging as one Digimon in a wasteland, surrounded by rock-formations. Seeming to feel an urge to destroy everything around him, or perhaps simply feeling trigger-happy, Paildramon grabbed his blasters, firing wildly at the ground.

Immediately after, Armadillomon appeared in the darkness, his body becoming ethereal as it infused and animated the stone figurine.

Back in the plane of reality occupied by humans, Lopmon's body glowed briefly, before releasing multiple beams of golden light that illuminated the area and forced everyone to cover their heads, as Antylamon emerged from within.

"CARE TO LEND A FREAKING HAND!?" They heard a snarling cry from above. They looked upwards, where Suzie spotted Kristy, along with an unfamiliar Digimon that she decided to be Arresterdramon's Ultimate form, sitting back-to-back atop the building for some reason.

Suzie greeted Marcus, Suzie and the others happily, though she only recognized a few of them. "What're you doing up there?!" Marcus shouted up at her.

"Staying away," Came Kristy's simple answer, that only served to make everyone more confused.

"'Staying away' from what?" Suzie questioned, uncertainly.

"The PawnChessmon," The dragon-man behind her growled, swatting a few of them back with his lance, halting their ascent. "There's a damn army of them up here..."

As had almost become a routine for the two, Kristy admonished her partner for his foul language, receiving a half-weary 'right, kid' in return.

Rina rolled her eyes at the reply. PawnChessmon? A Digimon that, she assumed, was an Ultimate, driven back by simple PawnChessmon? Just who were those two up there?

Elsewhere in the school, the possessed Yolei flashed a cold smirk, seeing through Shademon's eyes that the plan had worked and the target was in place. Immediately after, the floors, walls, windows and ceilings of every classroom in the building was dyed a deep obsidian, and lifeless eyes stared everyone down.

Yolei savored briefly the panicked screams, before reminding herself of the main objective of the excursion. With barely a moment, the Shademon composite heeded her command, and shapeless tendrils wrapped around the SkullSatamon and LadyDevimon in the hallways and classrooms, dragging into, up to and down to the paper-thin confines of the Shademon network.

Unnoticed to anyone outside, a shadowy mass of goo formed from nothing near the animal cage, and within it emerged a sleeve-clad arm, followed by the remainder of Yolei.

Seeing the Digidestined, Tamers and angels gathered outside the front door, the lavender-haired Demon Lord shook her head amusedly. Really, if they would leave themselves so unguarded, they stood no chance of survival, she thought.

Suddenly, Marcus, Tai and Davis spotted innumerable shadowy tendrils burst out of the pavement beneath, ensnaring them. "What's going on!?" Kristy shouted from above, watching as the tendrils ensnared everyone.

Yolei watched from afar, amused at their struggling to break, pointless though it was. Suddenly, she realized that she'd missed a few, and directed a few Shademon at the godling children.

Cyberdramon growled in frustration at being unable to get these things off him, whatever they were. Looking around, he noted that Kristy and the others weren't exactly enjoying it either. Then, Kristy saw the one who had started all this appear from thin air, down there with the others.

"Y-Yolei?!" Ken shouted, unable to believe his eyes. How could it be Yolei- He stopped himself from completing the thought, remembering from the examples of the omnicidal Lucemon that the Demon Lords were evil, so brainwashing was hardly surprising, comparing what he already knew of them to have done.

"Why're you doing this?!" Davis hollered at her. Yolei gave only a disdainful chuckle in return. Sora noted briefly that Suzie and Thomas briefly shared troubled looks, leading her to suspect that they knew what was going on.

"Consider this me doing you all a favor," Yolei responded dispassionately, giving them the impression that she was less than sincere.

"How is you invading my sister's school a favor?!" Marcus shouted angrily, glowering at the human Demon Lord.

Yolei chuckled, amused with watching them squirm, before chiding herself for being so easily distracted by trivialities such as them. It wouldn't do, after all. Not when she had her orders.

On the other side of the street, a middle-aged woman in indistinct attire strolled by, eyed the display briefly. Deciding that it was either a well-done LARP session or an event perpetrated by alien life-forms whose powers and natures were far beyond her ability to grasp, she arrived at the conclusion that neither was a concern of hers, and kept walking.

"How does it feel to know," Yolei lowered the restrained ten-year-old and dragon to eye-level, ignoring Marcus' protests. "That _you _caused all this?"

Kristy gasped in shock at the question. Before the fallen Digidestined could elaborate, a streak of crimson thunder rained down on the Shademon part of her, freeing her captives.

Scowling, she scanned her surroundings, seeing in the center of the school-yard Cherubimon and Ophanimon, flanked by a few hundred angels. Before anyone could react, the shadowy material covered the school grounds, an abundance of eyes gazing at everyone.

To Marcus' frustration, more of those tendrils wrapped themselves around him again, while demonic creatures crawled out of the darkness, beginning the slaughter of the angelic Digimon.

"Justice Beam!" Shakkoumon proclaimed. Orange-red blasts shot from his eyes, freeing Antylamon and Paildramon for a brief second before they were bound by the Shademon again.

Yolei scoffed at the wasted effort, mentally instructing the Shademon composite to seal the Ultimate's eyes. She wondered briefly if she was to share Lucemon's fate, as the current scenario was very familiar to that one in the girl's memories, and decided a change of strategy.

"MARCUS!" Kristy screamed, watching helplessly as her brother was swallowed up by the darkness. Then, she felt something weird on her feet, and looked down to that she herself was falling in.

Soon, everyone outside the school had been absorbed by the Shademon, leaving only her, Ken and Paildramon within the umbral expanse. _"Really," _She thought dismissively. _"It was getting a bit too crowded..."_

"Hey, Ken," Yolei greeted her boyfriend casually, as though they had met by chance on the street, rather than the actual situation. The irony did not escape her; years ago, Ken had been the Digimon Kaiser and her one of the Digidestined who had been chosen to stop. Now, he was a Digidestined and she was one of the Demon Lords.

"Please don't pretend that you're Yolei," Ken muttered as he was immobile by the shadowy whips. Mainly, he wished that the shadows would stop staring at him. Being engulfed in darkness was unsettling enough without those shadows having more eyes than anything should...

"I am," The Demon Lord of Despair disagreed. "You were the Digimon Kaiser then, and now, I'm a Demon Lord."

"You aren't," The former Digimon Kaiser argued back. "I _wasn't_ the Digimon Kaiser, and Yolei's _not _a Demon Lord, so let her go!"

She gave only an amused chuckle in response to Ken's glaring at her. His eyes widened when he saw something take shape, out of a blob of liquid darkness, in the air beside Yolei.

Soon, the shadowy figure had taken the shape of Paildramon. The Shademon copy of the Ultimate heeded the unspoken command, and delivered a flurry of punches to the defenseless Paildramon.

"STOP IT!" Ken screeched at the possessed girl. He was summarily ignored, and soon, Paildramon fell apart into Veemon and Wormmon, both too injured to maintain the Jogress form.

Almost immediately, Veemon sunk into the gooey shadows while tendrils of it wrapped around the larva, suspending him in the air.

"Do you get it now, Ken?" Yolei smirked coldly. "You can't beat the Demon Lords, not a single one."

Ken didn't hear her, being more worried about Wormmon. He hadn't reverted to a Digi-Egg from the assault, so Ken hoped that it meant he would survive. "Please don't die, Wormmon," The navy-haired male murmured under his breath. "You're all I have left..."

"How sweet," Yolei disparaged, halting in her sentence when Ken suddenly glared intensely, a look in his eyes that neither occupant of the female body, active or dormant, recognized.

"I don't care who or what you are," Ken spat. "We're going to beat you, the other Demon Lords, and every last Digimon you have to send at us, the way we beat Lucemon, so just give Yolei and Kari back, now!"

The Demon Lord of Despair didn't answer, instead allowing him and Wormmon to sink back into the darkness. Deciding to give it another try, she watched disinterestedly as Sora arose out of the shadows.

Unlike before, she was entirely engulfed by the adumbral mass, leaving only her heads uncovered. "Hey Sora," Yolei greeted, giving him a smirk that Sora assumed was intended as unsettling.

In truth, the entire display came off as overdone to her, or perhaps underwhelming. Living darkness... The ginger woman conceded that it was rather original, but after the Dark Masters many years ago, it would take more to faze her.

"Let's just get it over with, Yolei," She sighed, tiredly. The duster-clad teen, however, continued to stare her down, making Sora feel more nervous than the surroundings did.

The Demon Lord of Despair wondered how Lady Lilithmon would appreciate having Sora for her harem; to her recollection, there wasn't a Sora Takenouchi in there, though she hadn't seen much of it.

_"Still, the slut would hardly say no,"_ Yolei thought disdainfully. "How does it feel to lose everything?"

Sora's expression turned visibly pained at the question, worrying Biyomon slightly. Bitter memories flashed through her mind, of spending hours on end weeping over the loss the first few days she'd spent in this universe and their shared apartment, then moving on to seek comfort from Tai.

Among them, one memory stung in particular. She felt tears pricking her eyelids as the scene of Matt dying in her place replayed, relentlessly, in her mind. "It's... _not_ pleasant..." Sora murmured, audibly struggling to retain her composure.

The sound of her tortured voice was the worst thing that Biyomon had ever heard. Around them, the eyes of Shademon skittered around restlessly, trying to get a better view.

"Yolei, if there's anything left of you in there, I promise we'll help you," Sora assured her, in the most maternal tone the ginger could manage. The incarnation of despair scowled, not having expected a response like that.

Acknowledging that the veteran Digidestined and Tamers were far too experienced to break with harsh speeches, she decided to switch to the less seasoned Tamers.

Sora and Biyomon sunk back into the darkness while the avatar of despair conveyed mentally to the Shademon to have the godling children emerge in their place.

"Why're you doing all this?" Cyberdramon snarled at her, while Kristy simply eyed the demonically-possessed teen with readily obvious anger.

To their shock, Yolei simply gave a chilling smirk. "That's the best part," The Demon Lord laughed mockingly. "I'm not responsible for any of this; you two are."

Kristy felt utterly shocked by the accusation, her mouth and eyes wide. Whoever she was, she had shown up out of nowhere, and just attacked her school, and now, she was saying that it was _her _fault?!

"M-my fault?" Kristy stammered, shakily.

"Oh yeah," Yolei asserted. "Did you know that there's only been four Millenniumon, ever,? The first was Ryo's partner, the second joined the Gaia Origin, the third was created by Bagramon in another universe, and the fourth one was created by you." She explained to the too-distraught-to-care Kristy with a calm, composed tone.

"So what?!" Cyberdramon hollered back at her, not interested in other Millenniumon.

"So," Yolei answered patiently. "It means that right now, every Digimon, force or faction in creation are either out to kill you or take your shared power for themselves."

"We'll fend them off," Cyberdramon growled, an overpowering urge to rip her to shreds starting to overpower his common sense.

"Really?" Yolei scoffed. "The Demon Lords, the Stingmon Brigade, the Gaia Origin, the super-dimensional Chessmon Empire, the Time Lords, the Olympos Twelve, the D-Brigade, the Crack-Team... They're all coming for you two. Whatever or whoever gets you, officially becomes the most powerful being in all dimensions."

Neither Kristy or Cyberdramon had time to speak further, as they were swallowed by the darkness again. This time, Marcus and Agumon surfaced in their place.

"When I get my hands on you..." Marcus seethed, trying in vain to break free.

"Scary," Yolei chuckled. "But I've got an offer for you."

"Not interested," Marcus spat, disgusted by her nerve.

"I think you will be," Yolei grinned. "See, I know what you're afraid of. You're worried that you'll never be the ultimate fighter, when Suzie's around, and when Kristy and Gumdramon can become a Millenniumon, and when Tai's got an Agumon of his own, a stronger one, and you're right, but we can fix that."

Marcus grimaced; truthfully, he had been concerned about that, but the fact that they were stronger didn't make him redundant... did it? He didn't want to believe that it was the case, but what good were his fists and Agumon's fireballs compared to the ability to control space and time?

"Forget it," Marcus snorted. "You Demon Lords brainwashed Kurata and that Yolei chick! I'm not gonna buy what you're selling!"

"Sorry for the misunderstanding," Yolei beamed, giving a grin that revealed far too many teeth, while the eyes around them focused on Marcus. "You don't get a choice."

Marcus protested futilely, as he and Agumon were submerged in the shadows once more. Deciding that what she'd obtained was worth the time in the small, weak, low-energy world, she tossed the others out of her shadows, retracted them, and returned to the Dark Area.

"Secure the godling children!" Ophanimon commanded the angels, who heeded her order instantly, a MagnaAngemon taking a firm hold of Kristy's shoulders.

"What're you doing?" Sampson barked angrily, while everyone prepared to fight the angels. "Explain yourselves, now!"

"Of course," Ophanimon answered, apologetically. "We have come to place Kristy Damon and her partner Digimon in protective custody."

Sampson looked incredulously at her. "Protective custody? From what?"

"Everyone and everything, Mister Sampson," Seraphimon revealed, much to Cyberdramon's shock.

"So it's true?" Kristy asked quietly. Everyone spun, eyeing the girl confusedly.

"I am afraid that it is," Ophanimon whispered. "Because of your completely unanticipated Bio-Merge into a Millenniumon, nearly every hostile faction in the Digital World is in outrage. As we speak, they are preparing to invade this world. Whether they seek to slay the two of you, exterminate this version of humanity or simply covet your shared power, your staying is no longer permissible."

* * *

**Another finished chapter.**


End file.
